


The World Begins With You [Fighting For Freedom]

by XxLittenFirexX



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-06-28 21:30:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 45
Words: 290,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15715455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxLittenFirexX/pseuds/XxLittenFirexX





	1. Fragil Targets

As Neku felt overwhelmed with fear terrified of not knowing what could happen to him, he felt chills go up and down his spine and his skin became extremely pale, reminding Shiki of how he was starting to feel scared of facing the Composer as they stood outside the burgundy door that lead to his lair.

 

 

"Neku…Neku can you hear me?" Shiki said telepathically

 

"Shiki…" Neku said weakly

 

"I'm not gonna just sit back and watch you suffer again Neku. I hated seeing how you were so close to Fading in the Angels' Game…I don't know how but…I'm going to be there for you this time." she said strongly

 

Now instead of feeling afraid Neku was filled with shock causing his eyes to widen, knowing what she was hinting towards but before he could say anything one of the Maestros scolded him for hiding his face

 

"NEKU SAKURABA!" Yuki shouted causing him to look up

 

"Are you trying to anger us? Are you trying to disrespect us?" she said darkly

 

"No…" he said weakly feeling small and defenseless raising his head

 

Aiden then turned to the Maestros amused by Neku's fear overwhelming him again. He then turned back to Neku and continued revealing the details of the Angels' Game to him.

 

"she is right little boy, you know better than to hide yourself from us. It is considered to be rather rude young man." Aiden said with a coy little smile

 

"S-sorry…Head Maestro…sir" Neku said in a dry almost monotone voice desperately trying to hide his fear

 

"It's quite alright" the Head Maestro replied

 

"Now then, to continue where we left off before, Neku will enter the Angels' Game once more. However, a vast majority of the spirits selected to be Players are almost on par with your power little Fledgling. It's because of this, that you will play the Fledgling version of the Angels' Game but it will be modified due to how so many of the spirits there are almost at your level of imagination. This version, as a result, is called Higher Minds. Now although this doesn't mean you're guaranteed to be able to kill the Hunters it still means that you have a better chance at doing so since your Imagination is so strong." Aiden said darkly

 

"the Game is going to be…modified?! It's…gonna be completely different from the version I went through? AND on top of that, it's gonna have people with Imagination almost as strong as mine?" Neku thought nervously

 

"This version is also considerably harder than the version you went through, and it's because of this Players are allowed to say goodbye to their friends before entering the preparation room. You may now take the time to do so Neku Sakuraba" the Head Maestro said with a smug smile

 

Neku hid his hands in his pockets due to feeling them shake and felt chills go down his spine again

 

"I…I have to…SAY GOODBYE!? I'm…not gonna make it? It's really that much worse!? NO! I don't want to lose them! Any of them! I don't…I can't lose them…I finally have friends now…and now…they'll--

 

Shiki became enraged as she and all of his other friends heard Neku's thoughts, she then decided that now was the time to make her decision. She tapped into her Angel energy and glowed with a white aura around her allowing her to stand up removing the heaviness she and everyone else felt preventing them from standing up.

 

At that moment the Higher Ups commanded Mr. H to restrain Shiki. Knowing that he didn't have a choice he teleported himself over to her and placed his hand on her back beginning to neutralize her Angel energy.

 

"Nnngh…Mr. H don't!" Shiki cried

 

"I'm sorry kiddo, I have to do this" Mr. H said telepathically

 

Filled with rage her emotions were passed on to Mr. Mew causing the piggy to run up to Mr. H and start punching his leg.

 

"I'm not gonna let Neku do this on his own! He almost Faded in the Angels' Game, it's not fair!" she screamed

 

"Shiki what're you doing!?" Neku screamed looking back at her

 

"Please Head Maestro sir! Don't do this to him! You said it yourself, other than Angels and Composers that have already tried to get to God status and failed, only people with high leveled Imagination like Neku stand a chance at achieving God Status and permanently dealing with Anthony and the other Demons! Please! don't send him back into the Game sir!" Shiki said defiantly

 

Realizing what Shiki wanted Mr. H unleashed more energy determined to neutralize her energy and try to calm her down. But the more he tried, the more angry she became causing Mr. Mew to climb up to Mr. H's back and start pulling his arms.

 

"Shiki…" Eri said weakly from seeing her filled with so much rage

 

"Well then what is it that you're suggesting for us to do young lady?" Aiden asked smiling

 

"To let Neku out of the Game…let him go train to become the Ultimate God and have someone fight in his place…" she said sternly

 

"Shiki stop it!" Neku screamed angrily shaking his fist

 

"I said I wasn't going to abandon you Neku…this is…my way of staying true to my word" Shiki said seriously causing him to look at her in shock

 

"Honorable Head Maestro sir…" she continued "you said that the Angels' Game is the ultimate punishment right? It's the highest level of punishment one can receive next to being executed?"

 

"yes that is correct. Are you implying that you have committed a crime?" Aiden asked darkly

 

"Yes I have…" Shiki said clenching her hands into a fist

 

"Shiki…stop it! please stop! You don't have to do this!" Neku screamed at her filled with grief

 

She then turned to Neku and gave him a little smile

 

"Yes I do" she said sweetly

 

Aiden then looked at Mr. H and telepathically told him he could stand down, to let Shiki continue. Filled with concern for Shiki's decision, he then gives her a saddened look in his eyes before teleporting back to his post causing the piggy to leap back onto her shoulders.

 

"I killed Anthony's sister Clarissa. All the things that have happened until now are because he's trying to avenge her death sir. If anything…I'm...I'm just as responsible for everything that's happened, it's all my fault too." Shiki said with her hands balled up into fists.

 

All of Neku's friends looked at her in shock with the exception of Joshua who merely crossed his arms and looked down.

 

"Why is she willing to put herself in danger for him?" he thought curiously

 

"If I remember correctly Mr. H told me she did the same thing in the Reapers' Game…she was willing to play the Game again for Neku's sake…determined to stand by his side and not let him face the Game on his own."

 

"Don't get reckless yo…Shiki…you ain't gotta do this!" Beat said mentally

 

"yeah Neku will be okay Shiki!" Rhyme added

 

"You heard what the Head Maestro said this version is HARDER then what Neku faced before, do you really think you can handle it?" Taki asked nervously

 

"Shiki…I don't want to lose you." Eri said mentally as well

 

"I can't lose you either Eri, I don't want to be without you again. I want us to be a team again and sew new clothes but…if this time the Game's going to be even harder, then Neku's gonna need help! I can't just let him face it on his own." Shiki responded telepathically

 

 

Shiki and Eri then looked at each other for a few seconds with her running up to Eri giving her a hug

 

 

"I have to do this" she said weakly

 

she then lets go and stands up, fists clenched and awaited her fate

 

 

Aiden then discussed what Shiki had revealed to them and came to a conclusion

 

"Although murdering a Demon isn't considered to be a crime due to how much trouble they have caused in the past, you did point out some valid issues. If Clarissa hadn't had been killed then perhaps Anthony and the Soul Stealers wouldn't have returned. It is because if this that you will be held responsible for Neku losing control of his Demon energy thanks to Anthony and will also be held accountable for the murder he committed." Aiden announced

 

"I understand sir." Shiki replied

 

"Good then you may join Neku and also say goodbye to him. After all the odds of you both seeing each other in the Angels' Game are very slim." Aiden said darkly

 

By now Eri had heard enough and also channeled her Angel energy to life the heaviness she felt allowing her to stand up

 

"NO!" Eri shouted

 

"Please Head Maestro sir, don't let Shiki do this! Don't make her play the Game too…please…just…let me play it for her." Eri said strongly

 

Shiki looked started at Eri

 

"What?! But Eri I can't lose you!" Shiki yelled

 

Neku then looked at her in shock

 

"I can't stand the thought of losing any of them! I can't lose Neku or Shiki PLEASE Honorable Head Maestro let me take Neku's place and don't put Shiki in the Game." she said strongly

 

"Eri…" Neku said weakly

 

He then flashed back to when Shiki (in Eri's body) was willing to play the Game again for his sake, she didn't want to leave Neku to play the Game alone.

 

_"I'm not leaving without you Neku!"_

 

"She…she's doing the exact same thing Shiki did for me…Eri…I really mean this much to you? You're willing to put your life at risk…for me?" Neku thought in shock

 

"My this is quite a bold move you're making little girl. But the only way you could enter the Angels' Game is if you committed a crime. Replacing someone is possible if the crime you committed is greater than Neku's. Now then, is it?" Aiden asked

 

"Well, I'm not sure if it is sir…but…I took my own life to come to the Higher Plane." Eri announced

 

The Human form Composers and Angels all looked at each other in shock and began whispering to each other since most Fledglings don't admit such a thing to the Higher Ups (since it's a Composer's job to have control over life and death, suicide is considered a slap in the face to them and is considered an act of offence)

 

"well although taking one's life is considered an offensive act since you're not letting a Composer do their job, it's not a crime worthy of the Angels' Game, especially since that form of death is sadly common among mortals. It is not a crime that is severe enough to allow you to replace Neku, so sorry my dear." the Head Maestro announced slyly

 

Eri then hanged her head in defeat

 

"No…Neku…I'm so sorry" Eri said weakly she then sat down on the stands feeling defeated

 

Beat then focused his Angel energy and stood up too

 

"No! The only person that got what it takes to be his partner in something like this is me! I was in the Game just as long as Phones was! Even in that fake Reaper's Game expert mode! It's gotta be me!" Beat shouted

 

The Higher Ups then ordered Mr. H to restrain Beat, causing him to place his hands on Beat's shoulders trying to calm him down

 

"Beat, you need to calm down. The Higher Ups don't know you like I do, and could mistake your strong personality to being a threat and kill you" he warned Beat 

 

Beat then looked at Mr. H in shock and hanged his head. And then felt someone hold his hand

 

He then looks behind himself to see Eri with her eye watering 

 

"Please don't. Don't go Beat. I already lost Shiki twice. Now that l finally have her back I...I don't want to feel that way again! I don't want to lose you too!" Eri said desperately 

 

Beat then looked at her in shock

 

"You really mean that?" He said sadly

 

"I do. Please don't do this! I can't lose you or Shiki, any of you!" She said sadly

 

Beat then sighed and smiled at her

 

"it's aight yo. I ain't gonna leave you. But Shiki...I don't think there's no stoppin' her yo." He said sweetly. Mr. H then backed off and the trial continued

 

"Now then Shiki, you may proceed" Aiden said with a smug smile

 

Shiki then looked at Eri sadly and hanged her head

 

"I'm sorry Eri" Shiki said weakly

 

The two girls looked at each other with both their eyes watering for a few seconds and then hugged each other tight 

 

"Promise you'll be careful" Eri said sadly

 

"I will. I promise. Shiki said sincerely 

 

 

They then let go and Eri sees Shiki then leaped off of the stands and floated down to a horrified Neku who was extremely pale. Noticing this she held his hand and began to not only help him feel better but also help Neku gain full control over his demon energy. Feeling the warmth of her Angel energy he closed his eyes causing color to return to his face, and felt at peace.

 

"Shiki…" he said softly

 

"you didn't have to do this" he added concerned

 

"I know but…I want to be there for you Neku." she said sweetly

 

As the both stood with their eyes shut Neku then noticed how he felt a warm breeze on his back.

 

"Shiki…what're you doing?" he said sweetly

 

"Giving you full control over your Demon energy. It was already almost at that point so now, I'm giving it that one last push" Shiki said smiling

 

"Thanks…Shiki" Neku said smiling

 

"heh heh you're welcome Neku" Shiki said gently

 

Aiden then gave them time to say goodbye to their friends causing Rhyme to teleport a present to herself before giving it to Neku.

 

"Neku here take this." she said sweetly

 

She, along with her brother and all of Neku's other friends left the stands to talk to them. Rhyme then handed Neku a picture she made out of a poster board done completely out of spray paint.

 

Neku's face lit up as he saw how well done and detailed the image was

 

"You've been practicing your graffiti?" Neku said shocked

 

"Of course Neku…I think it's really cool when done by an actual artist." she said smiling

 

It was a picture of himself with what she thought his Ultimate God form would look like behind him. Due to how it was with a black background the powerful being was white outlined in gold illuminating the picture with the fiery haired teen floating with his palms faced upward (the same pose he'd do when focusing on a fusion attack with Joshua) it had so much detail put into it that it resembled a painting.

 

"Rhyme…this is…beautiful" Neku said amazed

 

She then placed her hand on the poster board shrinking it down to rather small size so he could put it in his pocket.

 

"thanks Rhyme" Neku said smiling

 

She then giggled and smiled at Neku happy that he liked it so much

 

"Make sure you hang on to it" she said happily

 

"Don't worry I will" he said also happily

 

His other friends all joined him and told him to be careful along with offering the same advice to Shiki. Eri then teleported herself down to her friends and hugged Neku.

 

"Please…Please be careful Neku…please stay safe" she said filled with grief

 

"Eri…" Neku said weakly

 

He then wrapped his arms around her hugging her back

 

"I will don't worry" he said strongly

 

They then let go of their embrace and Eri then hugged Shiki

 

"You too Shiki…I…I can't lose you again. It'd never be the same without you…or Neku. If it wasn't for Beat and Rhyme being there for me, I don't know what I would've done! Please Shiki…please be careful" she said sadly

 

Shiki hugged Eri and told her she would and then saw her friend teleport back to the stands

 

Taki then looked at Neku filled with grief

 

"I'm sorry man…I hate that this crap keeps happening to you…but…remember you're The Composer's Proxy…Your his pick, because of your imagination." he said sadly

 

Neku then hid his face

 

"yeah…I know…" he said weakly

 

Joshua then looked at Neku with his arms crossed

 

"Neku…I can already sense how nervous you are. Remember to just trust your energy…after all you're able to accomplish many things but…you still need to improve your endurance even more than what you had in the Reapers' Game. You need to do better Neku." he said sternly

 

Neku's other friends then returned to the stands to give Joshua some space

 

"Huh?" Neku said confused

 

"You know as well as I do that Anthony will stop at nothing to kill you…he's very cunning and odds are he's taken notice to how we've all been there for you. If necessary he may target your friends and try to kill them so he won't have anyone standing in his way when he finally attempts to kill you again when this is all over, he may even try to fight you one on one knowing how you're just a Human Soul, knowing that he can kill you." Joshua said sharply sending chills down Neku's spine

 

"We need to consider every option when it comes to Anthony and we know that he may use Soul Stealers to try to kill you again…what I'm saying is that you need to improve your endurance Neku…think of this Game as preparation for your training. You can't afford to pass out when facing Anthony or the Soul Stealers…cause then…it's over." he said darkly

 

Neku then hid his face in his funnel collar causing Shiki to hold his hand

 

"Yeah…I know" Neku said weakly

 

Joshua then chuckled at Neku's concern and pulled his hair back

 

"What's wrong? It's not like you to seem so frightened or nervous" Joshua said slyly

 

Shiki then hanged her head upset that Joshua was messing with him again unaware that he was doing it for a reason…to make his next statement have more of an impact.

 

Joshua then placed his hands on his side and gave out his menacing laugh

 

"Neku…don't tell me you've forgotten what I told you? Don't you remember? I thought you couldn't afford to lose." he said looking at Neku curiously with his hand placed on his chin

 

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Neku said weakly looking up at him with his hands in his pockets

 

"Give up on yourself, and you give up on the world." Joshua said wisely

 

"right…thanks Josh" Neku said clasping his right shoulder

 

Joshua then smiled a little and teleported back to the stands.

 

"Finished your goodbyes? Then we'll now commence with giving you two Player Seals" Aiden announced.

 

Amonae then teleported herself down to the two teens and placed her hand on Neku's right shoulder causing him to cringe has he felt a jolt of pain as he got his Player Seal again, however this time he had four lines arching around it forming a circle creating a "thicker" lock on the seal so it'd be harder to break. She then removed her hand and walked over to Shiki

 

"Nngh!" Neku grunted clasping his shoulder

 

"You okay?" Shiki said concerned

 

"yeah" he said weakly

 

Amonae then pulled up Shiki's green shirt and placed the seal on her right shoulder too.

 

"Ow!" she shrieked

 

Amonae then stepped back and explained what has happened

 

"You both have the Player seal once again, Shiki now since you've watched the Game before you know what the seal is for. Neku's however has had more locks placed on his Seal so it'd be harder to break apart. In an attempt to prevent what happened last time from happening again you see." she said smiling

 

"yeah…I do madam" Shiki replied

 

The walls of the Slaughter room became the Preparation room and the two Players walked towards the room along with Mr. H with him once again being a Hunter, something that made Neku's stomach ache with frustration.

 

He walked past Neku and Shiki and gave instructions on this alternate version of the Angels' Game. He took a deep breath and sighed and looked at all the faces of the Players knowing that some of them would Fade away the moment the Game begins.

 

"Alright guys, you all need to know what's going on, some of you may have played the Angels' Game before and some of you may have played the Reapers' Game…but this version…is even harder than the previous version of the Angels' Game." he said darkly

 

"This version only turns up when almost all the spirits here are a Higher Mind. Now, that isn't to say that all of the spirits here are at that level of power…and for those spirits, you'll have to avoid forging an alliance with people. I know it naturally seems like a good option, but in this game, weak Spirits are often times used as bait to lure in the Angels…and be killed." the Guardian said morosely

 

Hearing something so brutal made Neku become extremely nervous, sensing his fear, Neku's Guardian friend continued with a warning directed at him.

 

"there's something else you all need to know, in this game, just like the previous version of the Angels' Game, everyone is a target, and everyone is your enemy. Don't show weakness, no matter what happens or no matter what gruesome things you see, you can't afford to show fear. The moment you do, other spirits will consider you a target and focus on taking you down by whatever means necessary. They'll stop at nothing to kill you. This includes the Death Bringer as well." he said sternly

 

"Death Bringer?" Neku mumbled

 

"The Death Bringer is an Angel that is a Hunter with a very specific task: To kill any Player on sight. If you see the Death Bringer DO NOT ENGAGE this enemy in a fight! it means certain death if you do. Your best option is to run if you encounter this person. Hunters will also be in a human form this time around, making it even harder to tell who's a Player, who's a Hunter, and who's the Death Bringer. Avoid the Death Bringer no matter what" Mr. H said seriously 

 

 

"And pay attention to your timer. It'll turn from blue to a dark purple. It's the timer's way of protecting you, letting you know that the Death Bringer is nearby" he added

 

"My timer...it'll protect me and warn me that the Death Bringer is coming? But...we can't even fight this person. What are we supposed to do? What am I supposed to do?" Neku thought while hiding his face in his collar and hands in his pockets 

 

"the next thing I'm going to say is going to be difficult for those of you here who have been in the Reapers' Game before. In that Game you grew accustomed to opening up your Mind and focusing your thoughts on your Partner and pins to make yourself strong. But in this Game you can't afford to do that. The Angels are going to be much more hostile in this version and can even track you down by thought." Mr. H revealed darkly

 

Hearing such a thing, the fact that Neku can't even think, can't strategize or plan anything terrified him, knowing that his own thoughts could get him killed. He was frozen desperately trying to hide how helpless he felt, even with Shiki by his side.

 

"I…I can't even think!? What the hell am I supposed to--

 

Mr. H's eyes instantly darted towards Neku as if telling him to stop, to calm down and don't expose himself.

 

Even now, the Guardian Angel was willing to protect him, regardless of how he knows in the long run after he's in the battlefield it's hands off and he can't help Neku, even once.

 

The moment Neku's eyes met CAT's he felt a little less nervous, to the point he was able to stop thinking and just focus on Mr. H's words.

 

"there's just a few more things I have to tell you guys, and then I'll let you all get ready." Mr. H said scratching his neck

 

"In this Game" he continued "There's also a point system now. Your only mission is to survive just like last time, but now, you get points for how many Angels Fade away in the days you play the Game. You'll also have to balance knowing when to attack and when to hide. If the Death Bringer's Noise find you, they'll bring you to this person to be killed on the spot."

 

"As you play the game and score points, who ever scores the highest amount of points, will be declared the winner of that day and is exempt from having to play the Game on that day, and now there's barely any break periods. In this version even if you're in the Safe Zone the Angel's can still attack you. The only exception to this is when there's a full moon in the sky that's their signal to back off so be on your guard at all times."

 

"All I can really say now is good luck, and may your crimes be forgiven" Mr. H said sternly

 

He then teleported outside the preparation room and did one last thing for Neku knowing that once the Game started Neku would be all on his own.

 

"Neku" he said telepathically "I know you're nervous about this version and you should be, Players are known to not survive this version  _at all_. Only really stealthy like spirits like Kyoku win the Game. You've got this champ. Use this Game as an opportunity to do what Josh said, to improve your endurance even more. Even if you can't think of a plan, fight with your mind Phones. You have control over that crazy imagination of yours thanks to the War so, take advantage of that and trust no one…well….except Shiki of course. You can do this kiddo, just trust yourself and your abilities."

 

Hearing Mr. H's advice Neku then took a deep breath and sighed

 

"thanks CAT" he said telepathically

 

Neku then closed his eyes and did his usual focusing pose and focused his energy causing Shiki to smile at him

 

"there you go Neku" she said sweetly

 

As he focused he was surrounded by darkblue energy that disappeared the moment he opened his eyes

 

Neku then smiled as he saw Shiki do the same thing causing her energy to glow around her to and disappear when she opened her eyes

 

"You okay?" Shiki asked hoping Neku felt less nervous

 

"yeah. You?" Neku replied smiling

 

"Never better" she said smiling back glad that he feels like himself again

 

At that moment he then felt a sharp jolt of pain in his right hand

 

"Nngh! The timer…" he said weakly

 

Shiki then felt the same jolt of pain in her hand at that moment

 

"Ow! …huh? It's…so long. Is the timer counting down the total minutes of the Game again?" Shiki asked him

 

"Yeah…one hundred and eighty minuets untill this is all over" he said darkly

 

"Oh yeah…this timer counts the total minutes in a week." Shiki said hanging her head

 

Neku then hid his face in his funnel collar again causing his bangs to cover up his eyes and hid his hands in his pockets.

 

"I can't screw this up…I can't afford to get nervous or panic like how l did sometimes in the Reapers' game. If l do, I'll be deemed weak and easy to kill. I gotta get through this…for them." Neku thought concerned

 

He then raised his head in shock when he heard the countdown start causing Shiki to look straight at the door that would slide open

 

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…Game Start." an Angel announced

 

At that moment the door slid down and the Players scurried out of the room like mice pushing and shoving each other desperately to get to the Safe Zone where they can at least prepare to sneak up on Hunters as they run to the area.

 

As they all ran out of the room Neku and Shiki held hands in a desperate attempt to not lose track of each other, but as the pushing and shoving became more hostile they lost each other in the crowd

 

"NO! where is she!? Shiki's gotta be okay! She just has to. Dammit I can't go look for her! I gotta keep running!" Neku thought as he headed towards the playing field

 

When the Players all entered the Blank Void the crowd separated and Neku instantly stopped running as he saw the dozens of instant kill shots flying at him and the other Players resembling rain due to the numerous energies flying at him.

 

This then caused the Players to become frantic as Neku heard the blood curdling screams of Players Fading instantly the moment the energy made direct contact with them.

 

Neku quickly ran as fast as he could determined to not get it by the energy having them miss him by a few inches.

 

The screams increased even more as more and more Players Faded. There was originally forty-three Players in the Preparation room and were now cut down to thirty-five.

 

"Dammit, we're already losing Players!? This is insane! I gotta keep going, I have to--

 

Neku then stopped dead in his tracks to see an Angel in front of him causing Neku to get in his usual fighting pose

 

"I can't lose here, so bring it!" Neku screamed at the Angel

 

The Angel merely smirked at Neku revealing his mouth and fired energy at him. Neku then shot his energy back at the Angel but since they were at full vibe frequency Neku's energy wasn't strong enough to hurt him.

 

This then caused Neku's energy to break and scream in pain from the energy not only hitting him but also burning him as he was recoiled with so much force he was sent crashing to the ground. Neku then got back to his feet and created orbs in his hands and launched them at the Angel.

 

 

"So he's the boy that's the Composer's Proxy huh? That explains why he's able to use that Angel technique, his strong imagination." the male Angel thought

 

As the two orbs flew at the Angel he merely held out his hand slowing down time to alter its speed slowing it down

 

 

The Angel then snapped his fingers causing the orbs to dissolve

 

"What!? No, how did he?!...Rrrgh! Doesn't matter, I have to take him out!" Neku screamed in his head

 

He then leaped towards the Angel only to notice that he flew in slow motion

 

The Angel then flew around Neku slashing him with Angel energy over and over causing him to scream in pain and get cuts on his body from the Angel's slashes. The Angel then teleported himself in front of Neku and blasted his chest causing Neku to scream as he goes crashing to the ground landing on his back.

 

As Neku struggled to get back up his friends watched terrified as they saw Taboo Noise in their Symbol form creep up behind Neku.

 

"NO! PHONES THEY'RE BEHIND YOU YO! THEY'RE GONNA ATTACK YOU!" Beat screamed wishing Neku could hear him

 

"Beat, Neku won't be able to hear you until the last day of the Game" Joshua said darkly

 

"Grrrr I KNOW THAT YO! IT'S JUS' IT AIN'T RIGHT! PHONES IS IN TROUBLE MAN!" Beat screamed angrily

 

"Neku man, you gotta survive yo. You jus' gotta" Beat thought sadly

 

The Taboo Noise then transformed into their Noise form and became Rhinos, Kangaroos and Wolves that attacked Neku from behind causing him to dodge them at first, leaping towards the left, only for them to instantly turn towards him after he landed and bash into Neku, causing him roll on the ground from the impact.

 

The Kangaroo Noise would attack Neku from the air along with the Angel and the Wolf Noise would tackle him along with the Rhino Noise jab its horn against Neku making him scream from the pain to the point Shiki (who was on another side of the Playing field) heard his cries of agony

 

"NO NEKUUUUU!" She screamed enraged

 

Although facing nearly the same situation she desperately wanted to help Neku but was also being attacked by Noise and Angels she went into her panther form and killed some of the Noise thankful that she could still feel Neku's presence, that he hadn't Faded.

 

As the Taboo Noise and Angel attack Neku he then felt his energy begin to spike up

 

He laid on the ground overwhelmed with pain and felt his body burn.

 

"RRRRGH! I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU KILL MEEEEEE!" he screamed enraged

 

His energy then engulfed his body creating his armored form and began to viciously attack the Noise causing the Taboo Wolf Noise to be erased first. He then focused on the Rhino Noise and shot intense energy that resembled fire at the Rhino causing it to go flying from the blast.

 

He then slashed the Noise over and over causing it dissolve into static. He then teleported behind the Angel and tackled him to the ground unleashing a blast of sound as he screamed at the Angel's face.

 

It grew higher pitched more and more until it sounded like audio feedback causing the Angel to power down into his human form while covering his human form's ears. Neku charged the instant kill shot in his right hand and shot at the Angel.

 

The Angel's human form had tan skin with purple eyes and platinum blonde hair, a baggy white shirt, and black pants. Neku then was filled with dread as he saw light fade from the human form's eyes, and became extremely dark and blurry.

 

The tan skin became pale and dark circles were under the human's eyes. Neku was face to face with his foe's corpse. The body then Faded into six orbs of energy and dissolved into nothingness causing Neku to hide his face in his collar and hands in his pockets 

 

By now Neku had powered down to his energy surounding his body like fire with strands of lightning around him and his energy being within his eyes making his irises darkblue. Taking advantage of the surge of energy he still had left, Neku then shot more instant kill shots at Angels killing them making the number of Hunters go from fifty to forty five.

 

"Nnngh…Dammit that took a lot out of me…I gotta make a run for it!" Neku thought as he felt fatigued

 

He felt his energy power down and started to run to the Safe Zone portal 

 

"No…I can't just leave her. I gotta make sure Shiki's okay!" he muttered

 

Neku then turned around and started to head back when he heard her voice

 

"Neku go! I'm heading for the Safe Zone too, I'm okay" she said telepathically momentarily forgetting that thoughts attract Angels

 

Since the Angels heard her thoughts they then sent Noise over to the area as their symbol form commanding them to hide until further notice.

 

As Neku headed back to the forest he noticed the sky was getting dark and hoped a full moon would appear today and hopefully more than once in the Game. As he ran inside the portal and exited out of it, he was disappointed to not see Shiki but knew that the forest was huge and that she could be anywhere.

 

As he sat down on the ground laying his back against a tree trunk he then rested (despite them being crystal) and closed his eyes simply listening to the sound of him panting out of breath when he was startled by a certain sound.

 

He heard the sound of someone snarling making Neku gasp out of fear fearing the worse

 

"is it a Demon? Did Anthony sneak some demons in here?" he mumbled to himself remembering that he CAN'T afford to think

 

He then rose to his feet and did his fighting pose. He then saw a taboo wolf Noise appear from one of the bushes and saw it crept towards him. The wolf then snarled showing Neku its teeth causing Neku to back away slowly

 

"good it's just a Noise" he said quietly

 

He then tried to recreate his Psychs with his mind and tried to shoot lightning at the Noise…but nothing happened causing Neku to gasp

 

"What!? I can't use my Psychs!? But then…WHAT THE HELL DID THEY DO TO ME!? Does my seal also prevent me from completely accessing my mind!?" Neku said nervously

 

"Rrrgh! Doesn't matter, I've got this!" he said aloud

 

"You're good as gone" Neku said confidently

 

The wolf then pounced at Neku causing him to teleport behind it and blast it with his energy causing the wolf to go flying and crashing to the ground. It then got up and pounced at Neku again causing Neku to unleash more energy at the Noise causing it to dissolve into static.

 

Neku then smiled and began to walk away from where he erased the Noise to suddenly hear more snarls. He then turned around to see five taboo Wolf Noise appear from bushes snarling at him.

 

"Okay I've fought multiple Noise before so I can handle this" Neku said quietly

 

He then saw more wolf Noise appear

 

"Twenty five of them?" Neku said a little nervous

 

"I gotta lower that!" he said to himself

 

he then placed his left hand on his head and extended out his right hand making an orb of his energy and as he concentrated, he saw his energy surge around his body like fire and streams of lightning swirl around the orb. As a wolf then pounced at Neku he shot the orb at it, making it dissolve into static. He then shot ten orbs at multiple wolf Noise making them face erasure.

 

"So far so good" Neku said in his fighting stance, seeing that he reduced the Noise to 13

 

more wolves than pounced at Neku causing him to place his hands on his head and close his eyes

 

"Focus" he muttered

 

as the 13 wolves pounced at him he then opens his eyes and extend his hands outward blasting the energy, making even more of the Noise face erasure

 

but at that moment, he saw more Noise began to spawn, making the number shoot up to 29

 

"what? but I...I just Erased some" Neku said quietly

 

"Taboo Noise aren't this easily killed. I usually never Erase them with one hit... what's going on here? Is this...me? From attacking them with my soul?" he said concerned

 

Neku shot more and more energy desperate to reduce the number of Noise faster than the can respawn, but didn't work. He then charged Instant kill shots in both hands and fired them at the Noise reducing them to 20, only to then shoot back up in a matter of seconds.

 

The number of Noise increased to 35 and so on, until he was faced with an overwhelming number of Noise. Neku was face to face with an entire wolf pack of seventy nine Taboo Wolf Noise. He began to back away slowly and felt chills go down his spine as his eyes widened.

 

"there's too many" he whispered to himself

 

The wolves crept closer to Neku making him even more nervous until they charged at him causing Neku to run away from them. He ran deeper and deeper into the forest running as fast as he could. He shot the instant kill shot at the Noise making some of them disappear but doing so only caused more Noise to appear

 

"Rrrgh! Crap! What am I gonna--

 

As Neku ran deeper into the forest there was an incline causing him to roll downhill. He then felt one of the Noise bite his left leg tearing it to the point his energy began to leak out of his leg and causing him to scream in pain and trip from the wolf latching onto his leg. he then blasts energy launching him away from the wolf Noise and he fell down to the bottom of the hill landing on his back.

 

He then charges energy in his hands forming orbs, remembering the technique Mr. H taught him and then fired them as two massive beams that were so large they obscured his vision, making him unable to see anything else.  When the energy dissappeared, he saw all the Noise were gone.

 

 

He tried to get up, desperately trying to use his arms to push himself up,  and was able to stand with his hands on his knees panting out of breath. 

 

"Nnngh…I…I think I did it. I think they're all gone" he said quietly

 

 

Neku's friends then look in shock that he was able to blow up all those Noise with one blast, but were worried how that made him so exhausted, that he may have over exerted himself.

 

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Eri said worried

 

"Yeah, he has to be, Neku's strong. Look at how he killed all those Noise" Rhyme said smiling

 

 

"That's what's up. I know Phones got this yo" Beat sad happily

 

 

Eri then giggled 

 

"Totally, I still can't believe he did that" Eri said happily

 

They then see Neku holding onto his right arm panting out of breath and then felt his eyelids become heavy and felt his eyes start to close.

 

"No…I can't pass out…here…I…

 

As Neku whispered to himself trying to see if talking to himself would keep himself awake. He then saw a boy walk up to him charging up his energy in his left hand and saw the boy's red-orange energy form the instant kill shot.

 

To be continued…


	2. The Alliance

THE 2ND DAY

 

While Neku laid unconscious, he then wakes up and ma ages to stand up, seeing the mysterious boy walk closer to him. The boy then aimed the instant kill shot on his left hand at Noise symbols forming behind Neku, becoming a bunch of Rhinos being a stampede of 20 of them

 

He then fires it causing Neku to shield his face but then look behind him seeing it to pierce through several of the Noise simultaneously making eight of the 20 Rhino Noise become Erased.

 

This then caused Taboo Noise in their symbol form to appear and as the Rhinos began to emerge out of the symbol form. They y instantly dissolved into static thanks to the boy shooting the instant kill shot at them the moment they began to transform.

 

Two more people joined the boy with the redish orange energy and watched him form the instant kill shot and focused their energy to mimic the attack. Light blue and mint green colored instant kill shots both were fired alongside the redish orange one and drastically reduced the Noise from 20 to 16  still exhausted from fighting, all Neku could do was pant out of breath as he saw these unknown people help him

 

 

This then caused the Noise Rhino Stampede to head for a source of energy a little weaker than the spirits that were killing them, they headed towards the person that had originally drew them into the Safe Zone with their thoughts, Shiki.

 

As the unknown boy was killing his group of Rhino Noise, a group of Taboo Wolf Noise then viciously attacked Shiki catching her by surprise. As the wolves attacked her, slashing her clothes and tearing into her with their teeth making Shiki scream, Mr. Mew became his Panther form and violently slashed the wolves over and over causing them all to scream in pain.

 

Shiki then took this as an opportunity to fuse with Mr. Mew and took control of the panther. She would let out rage-filled screams as she would tackle and slash the Noise with a few of them tackling the panther form and biting her causing her to scream in pain.

 

Shiki then engulfed the Panther form in her energy and gave it a massive boost in speed and attacked the Noise determined to erase them so she could help her severely wounded friend.

 

Shiki allowed more and more of her energy to be channeled in Mr. Mew’s panther form causing it to become the energy and let out a massive dome of energy erasing all 25 of the Taboo Wolf Noise. She then goes out of Mr. Mew and started running to where she could sense Neku’s energy along with Mr. Mew running next to her.

 

“Neku you have to be okay…” Shiki said quietly

 

“His energy is really weak but, he’s not to the point he’s about to Fade like when Anthony made Beat, Mr. H, Joshua and nearly beat him to death. I have to hurry someone else is near him too!” she said to herself knowing she CAN’T think

 

She ran faster and faster determined to get there and help Neku sensing that whoever is near him is also charging up energy.

 

As she ran even faster trying the best she could to hurry to Neku she finally tracked him down and was horrified to see the person with redish orange energy in his hand in front of Neku, unaware that he had just finished killing the Rhino Noise with his two friends causing them to hide in the trees.

 

“that guy…he has energy around his hand like he’s gonna…” Shiki whispered to herself

 

Shiki then ran up to Neku filled with rage

 

“NOOOOOOO!” she screamed

 

She then stood in front of Neku, with her arms spread out to shield him, seeing him pant out of breath

 

“What did you do to Neku!?” Shiki screamed

 

“What? What’re you talking about? I haven‘t done anything to him.” the mysterious boy replied

 

“Don’t lie! I saw that energy glowing around your hand! You were going to kill him weren’t you!?” she screamed enraged

 

They both then heard a noise as Neku was still in pain

 

“Nngh…Shiki” Neku muttered

 

She then turned around overjoyed that he was okay

 

Shiki then generated pink energy around her hands to and placed them on his shoulders, to try to heal him.

 

Upon seeing how she couldn’t heal him on her own due to how wounded he was, the boy then walked up to Shiki and Neku and generated his energy around his hands.

 

“No don’t get any closer!” Shiki yelled distrustfully

 

“Just relax I want to help heal that kid…Neku was it?” the boy said frustrated

 

“Shiki…he didn’t do this to me, it was Taboo Wolf Noise. They pushed me to this point" Neku said weakly

 

“You sure we should let him help?” Shiki said concerned

 

“yeah” Neku said smiling a little

 

Shiki then looked back at the boy in front of Neku

 

“Alright just…don’t try anything” Shiki said sternly

 

The boy then smiled a little and stood next to Shiki generating his energy to heal Neku again.

 

They both then closed their eyes and focused on Neku feeling better

 

Neku then closed his eyes allowing their energies to flow into him

 

By having so much energy flow inside him along with their thoughts powering their energy, Neku’s torn body became healed removing all the scratches of energy leaking out of him.

 

 

When he felt completely better he then opened his eyes causing Shiki and the other boy to do the same

 

 

“You okay?” Shiki asked concerned

 

“Yeah thanks Shiki” Neku said smiling

 

Neku then looked towards the boy in front of them

 

“And…thanks for the help but…who are you? And…why did you help me?” Neku asked curiously

 

“heh always straight to the point I see, my name’s Yusuke Kimura” he said smiling

 

He had a striking resemblance to Taki with the exception of a few things. His hair was similar to Taki except he had one bang in his face parted to the left and his hair had four thick spikes on top of his head, blackish blue hair and a grayish blue sleeveless colored jacket with the collar folded up and two thick red strips on the side of the jacket.

 

Dark gray skinny jeans with shoes that were similar to converse shoes except they were black where the white patch of the shoe usually is and white where the shoe is usually black.

 

His pants also had two red straps on the right side of the pants. He also had smoky purple eyes that looked similar to Joshua’s eyes but with a touch of gray to them and a little tan on his skin (just barely there though)

 

“Now as to why I helped you it’s cause I could sense how strong you are but…your Player Seal…it looks different from everyone else’s how come?” Yusuke asked

 

Neku then looked down with his hands in his pockets

 

“It’s 'cause…I…I have a certain energy inside me…that almost killed me the last time I played this stupid Game…so I had extra protection put on my Seal to make sure it doesn’t do anything bad again” Neku said cautiously making sure not to say too much about his Demon energy

 

“Really? That’s odd. I've heard that rarely ever happens. Only when a Player is overhwhelmed does their energy start to break the seal apart.” Yusuke said intrigued

 

“Yeah…but anyways…How did you guys do that? I was able to Erase a ton of Noise but...eventually I couldn't take it anymore” Neku said curious as to what happened

 

“Well, you remember those other energies that were blasting the Noise alongside mine? that was me and a few other people making the Noise get Erased. We figured out how to them by erasing the Noise the moment they were turning into Rhinos transforming from their symbol form and we did it together, me and the rest of my friends, attacking them all at once. That’s how we killed ‘em. Whereas you tried to kill them all by yourself” Yusuke replied

 

“You should consider yourself lucky kid, if Yusuke hadn’t spotted you, you would’ve been killed by the Noise.” a female voice said aloud making Neku gasp

 

He then saw a girl emerge from the trees

 

She had redish orange hair, gray eyes and tan skin. She had a short sleeve V- neck shirt that was purple colored with a black wrist warmer on her left hand and had a chain necklace that had a lock on it with skinny jeans with holes in them she also had white shoes with a blue stripe going down the side of it.

 

“I’m Mitsuru Hishino” she said smiling a little

 

“Yusuke you sure we should let this guy in? I mean he got his ass handed to him by those Noise and seems pretty weak.” she said tauntingly

 

Neku then clenched his teeth and angrily shook his fist at Mitsuru

 

“I’m NOT weak! and even if that Wolf Pack Noise beat the crap out of me, I still killed them!” Neku screamed shaking his fist

 

“Oh really? You could’ve fooled me” she said slyly

 

“Back off! Don’t even think of messing with Neku!” Shiki screamed defensively

 

“Oh I see how it is, you’re together aren’t you?” the sarcastic redhead said smiling

 

The intense emotions between them quickly settled down as Shiki and Neku was instantly filled with shock blushing

 

“What?! He’s my friend! We’re not anything else.” Shiki said nervously

 

 

"Y-Yeah!" Neku shouted in his shocked pose "Did you think we were something more?! like a couple?!"

 

Mitsuru then chuckled

 

"Maaaaaybe" she said joking

 

“Uugh would you stop being so obnoxious!? we don’t want them to get the wrong idea. Besides that kid actually killed that pack of Wolf Noise himself, and Taboo Noise are really strong. That alone shows how tough he is. He killed an entire wolf pack on his own. Anyone trying to take on over 70 of them on their own would've gone through the same thing, pushing themselves to the point of exhaustion. That's why he couldn't take on the 2nd wave of Noise. Yusuke saved uh…Neku right? For a reason remember?” a male voice called out

 

A boy in a dark gray baggy hoodie with a black cartoony fishbone on it with part of it zipped down revealing a dark blue shirt with thin white strips, appeared with a wristband similar to the design of Taki’s belt. he wore tight black pants, and black shoes a with a white x going down the front of the shoes and had gray hair with a purple tint to it and burgundy eyes.

 

He then leaped from the trees and stood next to Mitsuru.

 

“I’m Daisuke. One of Yusuke’s……friends.” he said quietly

 

“Oh um well you guessed right, I’m Neku Sakuraba.” Neku said scratching his head

 

“and I’m Shiki Misaki…um…just curious…why haven’t the Angels attacked us yet…isn’t this version of the Game suppose to be…merciless?” Shiki said weakly

 

“Yeah…right now the Angels are resting…some of ‘em are in that hotel that only the Untouchable Player can go into…and some of them are here in the forest watching us right now.” Daisuke said darkly

 

“That’s why Yusuke wanted us to help you, to forge an alliance with you. We saw you kill seven Hunters yesterday so…if you happen to kill a huge number of them you might win the day and get to be exempt from playing the Game for the rest of the day.” he added

 

“Why are you telling me this?” Neku said curiously with his right hand in his pocket and left hand facing upward

 

“Cause I can sense how powerful your energy is, having someone like you in an alliance would help us survive, and odds are you‘d be an Untouchable Player at one point…you’re someone with High Level Imagination aren’t you?” Daisuke said darkly making Neku gasp feeling nervous

 

“This guy…he just met me and he could sense how strong my energy was? He could sense it that easily? I have high level Imagination sure, but how would he sense that? …just how strong is this guy? Even if he‘s not like me, there‘s something really intense about his energy…something that feels almost Demon like…like he‘s a really violent person…if I got him angry would he try to kill me?” Neku thought worried

 

Sensing how Neku was hiding how nervous he was around Daisuke Shiki intervened

 

“Well if an alliance will help us survive the Game then we should all stick together right Neku?” Shiki asked trying to snap him out of his troubling thoughts

 

Neku the  hides his face in his collar and his hands in his pockets and paused for a few seconds

 

"I...I guess" he said hesitantly

 

Yusuke then looks at Daisuke and Mitsuru and then back at Neku

 

“alright then, it’s deiced from here on out watch each other’s backs and kill the Hunters…by whatever means necessary.” Yusuke said smiling holding out his hand

 

Daisuke and Mitsuru smiled at each other and placed their hands on Yusuke’s and Neku and Shiki smiled at each other before doing the same. They all smiled happy to know that they’ll work as a team to fight and survive the Game, and then they removed their hands from each other but, at that moment ten orbs of energy went flying towards Neku. Daisuke then looked up noticing the orbs causing him to run up to him.

 

“Neku get down!” Daisuke yelled tackling Neku to the ground while simultaneously creating a barrier to shield him and Neku

 

“What’re you doing?!” Neku shrieked

 

“I told you to duck! We’re in an alliance so you’ll have to trust me!” Daisuke replied

 

Shiki, Mitsuru and Yusuke had to start running to avoid getting shot by the orbs, when the orbs fly past Neku and Daisuke then lowers the barrier and starts running away

 

“C’mon!” Daisuke yelled

 

Neku then gets up from the ground and runs after him.

 

“Right behind you!” Neku yelled back

 

As they started to run towards the edge of the forest and felt the timer zap his left hand again and saw that it had gone down again reading:

 

90:46

 

“Nnngh…great at least it’s going down now…” Neku muttered

 

When Neku and everyone else finally reached the edge of the forest and started to run to the playing field through the Safe Zone Portal, making them land back in the Blank Void, and then ten more orbs went flying towards them shooting all of them in the back sending them flying to the ground.

 

As Neku, Shiki and everyone else got to their feet they all generated their energies causing Neku to see Daisuke’s mint green colored energy and Mitsuru’s light blue colored energy and saw them charge the Instant kill shot in their hands.

 

“Huh? How are you guys able to do that?” Neku asked in shock

 

“We all saw you do that on the first day and taught ourselves how to mimic it.” Yusuke replied

 

But as he explained this an Angel shot lightning at Neku since he's the strongest spirit in the Game, making many Hunters target him

 

“Neku!” Shiki screamed

 

She then shot her energy at it desperately trying to push it back, but unlike when Neku did this in his training, this Angel was at full blast causing Shiki’s hand to tremble and let out whimpers of pain as her energy eventually broke causing the lightning to hit her sending her flying only to get causght by Neku

 

“Shiki…I’m sorry” Neku said feeling guilty that she had to protect him placing her next to him

 

An Angel then fired enegy at Neku and Shiki, causing him to pull her behind him. He then generated the instant kill shot in both of his hands and shot it at the angel causing it to teleport away from them the fourty-five Angels all blasted instant kill shots from the sky making it almost fall like rain. The dozens of Players screamed as the thirty-five Players were getting cut to twenty eight.

 

“NOOOO!” Neku yelled “Not again! Damn it this is--

 

A male Angel then flew in and punched Neku’s face sending him into the air, teleporting around Neku slashing him with his energy. The angel then slammed Neku to the ground, the moment she saw this, Shiki tried to run to Neku but an Angel caught her making her scream as she was shot with energy.

 

Yusuke, Daisuke and Mitsuru also let out cries of agony as they too were all shot with energy Yusuke ran up to one of the Angels but felt energy blast him from beneath his feet shooting him into the air only to get shot back down by an Angel tearing his clothes and skin apart

 

“Yusuke!” Mitsuru screamed

 

She tried to run up to him only to have the same thing happen to her

 

At that moment more and more Players were stepping into the energy, unaware that the playing field was now set up like a mine filed causing them to get blown up by the energy.

 

More Players screamed in agony as they were getting beaten to the point of Fading, even Tetsu as strong as he was, was going through the same problem, and it was something that infuriated him.

 

Daisuke screamed as the Angel would slash him with energy causing him to go flying into the air. The Angel then teleported to Daisuke’s position and punched him in the face causing him to go hurdling down towards the ground making a thunderous crashing sound as he hit’s the ground covered in scratches and having his clothes torn…the same position he and his other teammates were in.

 

Shiki started to scream in pain as an Angel would fire energy at her stomach causing her to go rolling into a spot with energy causing her to go flying into the air. The Angel would then teleport himself to her and grab Shiki by her neck and slam her to the ground making her cough up orbs and even causing a crack on the left side of her glasses. All Shiki could do was curl into a ball and wheeze in pain.

 

“I have to…tap into my mind” Shiki whispered

 

Neku’s friends watched filled with concern as the angels would slaughter more Players and were preparing to do the same to Shiki, Neku and everyone else of their alliance.

 

As the fighting continued Mr. H watched what was happening from his flat screen TV in his room in the hotel set right outside the battle field.

 

(due to how many more Angels are used in this version of the Game they often take turns fighting in the game, making the one who’s not fighting take a break so they can kill Players later on. Which is why Mr. H is on break from killing Players on the first day)

 

As he watched everyone suffer and more Energy mines get triggered sending puffs of dark gray energy all over the field Mr. H couldn’t help but feel sad for the Players seeing how defenseless they were.

 

Even when tapping into their minds summoning animals and even vehicles to crush the Hunters, they still weren’t strong enough to fully take on Angels that were as strong as him, not even Neku could escape that fact. He watched as the Players were reduced again to being nineteen Players.

 

“this is really bad…the Hunters gotta hold back a little bit or at this rate we won’t even make it through the week…even if…that’s how this version of the Game sometimes ends.” Mr. H thought concerned

 

He saw Daisuke begin to snarl and let out an almost demonic roar as his eyes glowed bright reddish pink without any pupils and began to viciously slash the Angel while using his mind to summon a wolf to help him kill the hunter.

 

“So that’s what Phones was picking up on…this kid, his energy’s almost exactly like a Demon’s…is it really safe for Phones to be around him…even if the kid did protect him? I’ll have to keep an eye on that kid” Mr. H thought worried about Neku

 

At that moment Shiki had transferred herself into Mr. Mew and became a panther slashing the Angel who shot energy at the panther making it scream in pain. Shiki then focused her energy into the Panther making it shoot her energy at the angel sending him flying into the air.

 

Mr. Mew’s fused panther form then leaped towards the Hunter while becoming engulfed by Shiki’s energy causing it to glow pink being white in the center and viciously slashed the Hunter making him become his human form. The Angel’s human form tried to fight back but was overpowered by the panther causing him to scream in pain before Fading into his energy.

 

As Mr. H and Neku’s friends all watched the Game they all saw an Angel walk up to Neku attempting to slash him with his energy. even though Neku was filled with pain he desperately tried to get back to his feet placing his hands on his legs to give himself support to push himself upward letting out whimpers of pain as he struggled to do this.

 

but as Neku was nearly back on his feet the Angel flew at him becoming a blur that rammed into Neku’s stomach making him cough up orbs of his energy as he was sent flying.

 

The Angel then teleported to Neku and blasted energy into his chest making Neku scream in pain as he crashed to the ground. He was covered in scratches an his clothes were torn, all he could do was wheeze in pain as the Angel crept closer charging up the instant kill shot in his left hand, preparing to give Neku the final blow overwhelming his friends with concern as they watched him. Neku then fired orbs of his energy at the Angel desperate to fight back, only for the Angel to extend out his left and and absorb the orbs

 

“Neku! Don’t just give up! You gotta fight back!” Taki screamed feeling his eyes burn.

 

Eri, Rhyme and Beat just stared at Neku in shock, they’re was nothing but silence between them.

 

“Neku…Shiki…please you gotta fight back please!” Eri said mentally

 

“C’mon yo! Phones you gotta get up man, PHONES GET UP! PLEASE MAN! I CAN’T LOSE YOU!" Beat screamed in his head

 

“Neku…you can’t achieve God Status like this. PLEASE Neku…I know you can do this please Neku…please don’t go.” Rhyme thought with her eyes watering

 

They were all silent with their eyes locked on the portal, even Joshua was afraid for Neku

 

“Neku? Neku…why aren’t you getting up…you need to better, you NEED to get up…don’t just lay there!” Joshua said in his head

 

“He can’t lose now…remember what I told you Neku…don’t doubt yourself” Joshua whispered to himself

 

“Why?” Neku thought knowing that he could afford to think, since he was already about to be killed

 

“Why is it that no matter how much stronger I get…I…I always get into a situation like this…I don’t want to Fade here…Rhyme…she actually thinks I can do this…that I’ll beat this game and then achieve God Status…I don’t want to lose them…I--

 

The Angel then walked closer to Neku getting ready to kill him, causing Neku to try to push himself up causing him to tremble in pain

 

“I…I’ve got friends now…people…that I can trust…and I don’t want to lose that again…I can’t…not again”

 

He then heard what sounded like a girl screaming

 

“Who’s that?! Who’s screaming?! Come on get up! GET UP!” Neku screamed in his head

 

He then saw the girl get launched into the air by another energy mine and was viciously slashed by Hunters before falling and landing on the ground again causing her to only lay a few feet from Neku, and saw a certain toy had cotton sticking out of its chest.

 

The moment he spotted her he was filled with rage and hatred towards the Higher Ups for making them fight to the death as part of their Game and felt his energy begin to burn him causing him to begin to growl.

 

His body burned more and more causing him to squint from the pain and felt his body tremble as he managed to lay on his knees with his hands balled into fists making the Angel standing in front of him stand in place curious as to why Neku’s energy was spiking up.

 

“Rrrgh! No….get away from her…” he snarled

 

“GET AWAY FROM SHIKIIIIII!!” Neku screamed as he got up

 

He was crying, feeling his eyes burn as energy leaked our from eyes even with them closed.

 

(but it wasn’t as painful as it sounds it was more like when someone feels their eyes burn from feeling like they are about to cry)

 

He then felt his hands burn and had orbs of his energy form into his hands surging like lightning with a stream of lightning connecting them. Neku then opens his eyes and to reveal them being white outlined in darkblue and an aura of the same color formed around him causing Neku to float in the air.

 

The Hunter shot the instant kill shot at Neku only to have him teleport away from the hunter, the hunter then turns around to see Neku clench his hands making the orbs and stream of lightning surging out of them disappear and make four orbs appear floating near each knuckle.

 

He then opens his hands to have them go flying in different directions making them have a sharp point to them and launches them at the Hunters killing them the moment they made direct contact with them, completely shocking the Higher Ups Joshua and Mr. H

 

“Just when I thought I finally knew his limits, that I figured out the true potential he has as Higher Mind, he goes and surprises me yet again. Heh, he really is such an interesting kid…it’s no wonder all those Demons want people like him killed. Go get ‘em kiddo, keep getting stronger, keep pushing yourself. Heh, he actually made my instant kill shot, but…as bullets. It's usually really hard keeping the intensity of the Instant Kill Shot like that in a compact size” Mr. H thought smiling as he watched the Game from his hotel room

 

“Neku seems to be improving wouldn’t you say Amonae?” Aiden said telepathically

 

“why of course Aiden, although we both know that the Seal will only allow him to access so much of his mind to empower his energy like this” she replied mentally

 

He then flies over to Shiki attacking the Hunter with the Instant Kill shot bullets causing the Angel to block them with the original version causing Shiki to gaze at Neku amazed

 

“Neku…how did you…

 

Before Shiki could finish her sentence Neku teleported behind her grabbed her, and carried her in his arms making the “injured” piggy float over to her. He then flew over to the Safe zone along with the Hunter following, he then had the energy surrounding him strike the Angel with the instant kill shot, he blocked it, which then caused Neku to create more of them from the energy surrounding his body.

 

The Angel fired the attack at Neku’s Instant kill shot but he made so many that the Hunter couldn’t possibly block them all causing him to instantly Fade into little orbs that disappeared.

 

He flew her into the forest along with his other partners from their alliance and gently placed them within the trees to keep them safe and then finally placed Shiki by a tree trunk not too far from him so he could watch over her while simultaneously fixing Mr. Mew‘s chest laying the toy next to her.

 

He then powered down causing him to feel extremely disoriented having to clench onto his right arm for support.

 

“Neku! Are you okay?! What was that? I’ve never seen you do anything that before.” Shiki exclaimed

 

“Nngh…I…I don’t know…I just got so pissed at that Hunter for hurting you…and then the next thing I knew I felt my eyes burn and made orbs form into my hands…everything after that was hazy” he replied

 

He then began to pant out of breath from feeling so fatigued causing Shiki to place her hands on his shoulders and close her eyes healing him of his fatigue

 

“thanks…” he said weakly

 

“Don’t mention it” she said smiling with Mr. Mew climbing onto her shoulder

 

She then lets go of him and looks down at his timer

 

90: 13

 

“I wish this thing was over already” he said hanging his head

 

“yeah me too” she said sadly

 

She then looked up and saw through the canopy of trees that the sky was getting darker it looked like it was dusk

 

“hey Neku look at that” she said pointing towards the canopy

 

“huh…hey…it’s almost nighttime, do you think we might get a break?” he exclaimed as he looked at the sky

 

“No idea, it’s so early in the Game though that I kinda doubt it…but still…I hope I’m wrong.” Shiki answered

 

At that moment an Angel at full blast began to walk towards them causing Shiki and Neku to turn behind them and feel a little nervous as he walked closer. Yusuke and his friends all woke up and watched as the Angel walked closer to them.

 

Due to how Neku had placed them within the trees they made sure they remained hidden causing Yusuke to charge up energy and made it into the instant kill shot but the moment he did the Angel turned towards where they were hiding giving his back to Neku causing him to charge up energy and stab the Hunter in the back with the Instant kill shot making him Fade away.

 

Yusuke and his other friends then emerged from the trees and looked at Neku in shock

 

“You saved us?” Yusuke said surprised

 

“Yeah…We’re partners after all, and that means that we back up each other.” Neku exclaimed with his palm faced upward and right hand in his pocket

 

He then hid his eyes from them and placed his hands in his pockets remembering what Mr. H had taught him.

 

“Trust your partner…and I do. I now know that you guys really will help me and Shiki if we need it. Trust…is something that the Reapers’ Game taught me.” he said weakly trying to hide his feelings

 

Shiki then couldn’t help but smile seeing how much she and all of his other friends mean to him, how the Reapers’ Game really was a huge part of his life, knowing all too well how much of an impact it left on him from seeing his mind without its influence.

 

He then lifts his head seeing Shiki’s smile making him do the same.

 

“Well good, cause if it wasn’t for you then we’d all be toast.” Mitsuru exclaimed

 

“Yup supernatural toast…with butter.” Neku said jokingly with his hand on his hip trying to lighten the mood

 

“well all buttery toast aside, we really mean it Neku…thanks to you we made it.” Yusuke said with a smug smile of his own

 

“This kid’s energy is that intense? And that’s just with the seal on him that’s not his full power. I may have to keep an eye on him.” Daisuke thought

 

He then smiled at Neku and thanked him for protecting him too.

 

“well if anything you guys should be thanking Shiki.” Neku said smiling

 

 

“M-Me?” Shiki exclaimed bashfully

 

“Well yeah Shiki” Neku exclaimed turning towards her

 

“I saw you getting hurt…it got me so angry seeing you like that, that the next thing I knew my whole body was burning. In the end…maybe you being here isn’t such a bad thing after all. lf I hadn’t had got that rush of energy going inside me then…it’d be all over for me…it’d be all over for us.” Neku said with his smug smile and left hand on his waste

 

“Well then, in that case, let’s hope that we can do a better job at fighting and sticking together” Mitsuru exclaimed

 

“Yeah who knows…if we get lucky we might help each other survive longer maybe to that last day.” Yusuke added

 

“But then we’d have to fight each other to the death…well more then death…since we’re already dead” Daisuke added

 

“Yeah…” Neku said darkly

 

To be continued…


	3. Betrayl

THE 3RD DAY

 

Hiding his concerns Neku tried to seem hopeful encouraging everyone else that they could survive but deep down he knew, and everyone else knew that they could all Fade into their energy never to exist again, and it terrified him. Being so close to never seeing his friends again, to never seeing ANYTHING ever again he knew he couldn’t afford to screw up so badly like how he did on the first day.

 

Night began to fall and each member of the alliance all eagerly looked at the sky hoping for it to be a full moon, but unfortunately weren’t that lucky. The crescent moon began to become thicker within the sky rather then being a little sliver of light in the sky.

 

(in other words a waxing crescent moon, making it getting closer to a full moon)

 

They then all hanged their heads in disappointment.

 

“it’s still not enough” Yusuke said morosely

 

“Yeah…it’s almost there but not quite” Mitsuru added

 

“At this rate it’ll take a few more days until we get a break” Daisuke said disappointed

 

“and on top of that we got slaughtered yesterday, tons of Players got killed, drastically cutting the number of Players…I don’t even think the previous version of the Angels’ Game was this bad. At this rate it’ll…

 

Before Neku could finish his sentence he felt someone hold his hand making him smile a little. Due to how dark it was he could barely see anything but knew that whenever he was upset Shiki would squeeze his hand to make the pain go away, to help him just let it go and know that he has someone there to support him.

 

He then looked at Shiki and saw her smile at him

 

“this is…just like old times isn’t it Neku?” Shiki said sweetly

 

“yeah…this is kind of like the first few days of the Reapers’ Game, back when none of us had a clue of what we were doing.” Neku said with a smug smile

 

Daisuke then generated his energy in his hands creating a source of light so everyone could see better.

 

“You two seem to go pretty far back huh?” he said smiling a little

 

“Well, not that far back actually.” Neku said smiling

 

“Yeah, Neku’s only known me for three months and a half now” Shiki said hugging Mr. Mew letting go of his hand

 

“um guys…has anyone else noticed how quiet it got all of a sudden” Yusuke said trying to get everyone’s focus back

 

“Mhm, it’s really weird has the day ended?” Mitsuru said concerned

 

Yusuke then looked down and smiled happy to not see a timer on his hand

 

“Yeah…it looks like we’re safe now” Yusuke said smiling

 

“So then that means that the Angels must be on break now, and that the remaining Players are safe in the forest again but…they‘re still here they‘re watching us…I feel it. They could attack us at anytime. So even if the Angels are on break, they're here watching us. this is part of the Game right now the timer's only gone since the day is technically over...byt the Game isn't the timer could comeback at anytime.” Daisuke said darkly causing Neku to hang his head

 

At that moment Angels in their orb form were flying around the forest watching over the Players planning to attack later on

 

They all then decided that now would be a good time to get to know each other better starting with how they all died while still looking at the orbs every now then just incase they were going to be attacked.

 

Neku and Shiki went first telling them how they all died only a few days apart from each other and explained why that happened

 

Mitsuru looked at them in shock along with Daisuke and Yusuke looking more intrigued

 

“So you died to help Neku be saved from some corruptive energy?” Yusuke said curious

 

“Yeah…everything was fine at first but…it got worse over time and the next thing we knew Neku had lost control over who he was.” Shiki said sadly

 

“I guess I should tell you guys what it is so, if that happens again--

 

“Cause I know you’re watching me…aren’t you?” Neku mumbled to Anthony

 

“You guys will know why that’s happening.” he said weakly

 

Neku then explained to him how he got demon energy inside of him and how he got it again thanks to Clarissa.

 

“That’s why my Seal is different than yours…to keep the energy at bay so it doesn’t kill me” Neku explained

 

Daisuke understanding what that feels like turned his eyes away from Neku feeling a little vulnerable so he desperately wanted to just go back to talking about how they died, even though he doesn’t want to remember his past.

 

Yusuke sensing this in Daisuke decided to talk about his death first

 

“So anyway going back on topic um, who wants to go next and talk about how they died?” Yusuke asked

 

He saw that no one responded and sighed

 

“Alright I’ll go next then” he said a little annoyed

 

“I guess we should start off with a crucial detail that contributed to my death, I’m not from Shibuya. I heard that it was pretty much the most popular city in Tokyo to the point that the city itself is a tourist attraction.” he said nonchalantly

 

Shiki and Neku then smiled at each other from how true that statement was, that people from all over the world tend to visit Tokyo just to go to Shibuya

 

“So then where were you from Yusuke?” Shiki asked

 

“Okinawa” he said smiling a little

 

“I moved to Tokyo back when I was fourteen so it was a really rough transition going from the streets I use to know to such a massive city and I lived there for only a few years. I died when I was sixteen. I became well adjusted eventually but I was still getting used to some of the multiple routes one could take to get so a certain area in the city. So unfortunately for me, I wandered into a part of Shibuya that I would regret later on. I ran into a  gang. They laughed at my confusion and became enraged that I was on their turf while they were spraying graffiti.” he said sadly

 

“I tried to get away but, they were huge! The members of the gang were like the size of football players. They would hold me down and start beating me with a pipe or would take turns beating the crap out of me. I couldn’t take it any longer…

 

Yusuke then hanged his head making Shiki and Neku do the same realizing what must’ve happened next

 

“They beat me to death.” he said darkly

 

“Man that’s…that’s awful…I’m sorry Yusuke.” Neku said sadly

 

“Yeah I guess we got lucky…Neku and I have never ran into a gang before. Plus crime is super rare in Japan br.” Shiki said squeezing Mr. Mew

 

Yusuke then raised his head and smiled a little

 

“But then after I entered the Higher Plane I just…felt more at peace and free. Demons would try to hunt other Fledglings but Angels would come in and protect me and the other human souls from being killed by them. That’s why I bet they hate having to play this.” he said smiling

 

Neku and Shiki then rasied their heads too and smiled back

 

“Yeah Angels aren’t really this bad…they have to fight like this cause they don’t have a choice. They’re just so…cool. They’re strong powerful and…just really awesome to be around.” Neku said happily

 

“heh heh, from the way you describe them you seem like you actually know one.” Yusuke remarked

 

Neku then awkwardly scratched his head

 

“well you could say that” he said shyly

 

“that’s really awesome” Yusuke replied

 

“yeah it really is” Neku said smiling

 

Mitsuru then decided to tell them about her death, how she and her mom got into an argument over what she should do with her life. Her mom started to take his eyes off of the road to look at her mom and scream at her face while Mitsuru was in the passenger seat.

 

“I’ll never forget what happened next” she said sadly

 

“the car just kept going and we just got so caught up in the argument that neither of us saw the car we were driving towards. We were headed towards a red light and…I screamed at her to look but…when my mom saw the car she slammed on the brakes…the last thing I remember was seeing us getting closer to the car…and…how pale my mom looked as she pushed me back with her right arm.” she said sadly

 

“even when my mom was angry with me…in the end she was there for me…we both woke up in a white room, then this weird foggy outer space place and the next thing I knew I was in the Higher Plane.” Mitsuru said hurt

 

Neku couldn’t help but hang his head thinking about Beat from her describing her death

 

“Beat this is…just like you…it’s just like how you and Rhyme died.” he whispered

 

The orb forms of the Angels then stopped moving and just floated above them.

 

Aiden then telepathically told them to attack that they were too comfortable and had lowered their guard.

 

The Hunters did as they were commanded and all became their Angel form causing Neku and Shiki to look behind them. Everyone instantly got up and ran away.

 

The angels all fired instant kill shots at Neku and everyone else in the alliance and at the same time some of them summoned taboo Noise to attack them. They all ran deeper within the forest when Neku felt his left hand burn him again.

 

“Nnngh! Are you kidding me?!” he screamed frustrated

 

The timer then read:

 

80:45

 

“so…as long as the Hunters attack us then…we’re still playing the Game?!” Neku roared

 

Still exhausted from his earlier encounter with the Hunters Neku knew he had to hide. As they all ran deeper into the forrest Neku instantly teleported himself behind a tree hoping that Shiki and the others would do the same, due to how their souls are free making the connection each one of Neku’s partners made with his soul even stronger in the Higher Plane, Shiki could sense what Neku was trying to do so she hinted it to her teammates.

 

“Guys we can’t fight them there’s too many! Hide!” Shiki screamed

 

Each one of them then all teleported away from the Angels using the darkness of the forest and the numerous trees to get away from the Angels and hid behind the trees. Due to how dark it was it was extremely difficult for the Angels to find Neku and his teammates.

 

They were absolutely silent focusing on making their vibe frequencies extremely low by staying in control over their emotions and not letting their energy spike up, this then made the Hunters have to return to their hotel to conserve energy causing Neku to let out a sigh of relief when he saw the Hunters fly away.

 

But the moment he did this an Angel stopped dead in his tracks and looked in his direction causing Neku to hide his mouth in his funnel collar. One of the Angels notices the Hunter looking at one of the nearby trees.

 

“hey is something wrong?” one of them asked

 

“No…I just thought I heard something that’s all. I might’ve been hearing things especially since I’m beat from having to use up so much energy in one day.” the hunter who heard Neku replied

 

“I hear ya” the Angel replied

 

“I guess we ought to go back and let Sanae know to get ready, that it’s his turn tomorrow.” the hunter added

 

The moment he heard that Neku felt extremely cold and his eyes widen in shock

 

“yeah I bet this gonna be rough for him, since that Composer's Proxy boy that loves his graffiti is here.” the other Angel added

 

“yeah I can’t help but feel bad for them, both the Composer's Proxy and Sanae, it has to feel awful knowing that you have to kill someone that means so much to you.” the hunter said scratching his head

 

The two hunters then became their orb form and flew back to the hotel. The members of the alliance were filled with shock that they all managed to escape the Hunters causing them to merely stay behind the trees and look to the sky watching it become dawn making their timers disappear for clearing the second day, and starting the third.

 

“Neku man, it’s gonna be aight yo.” Beat said as he watched Neku sensing his nervousness

 

“So you can sense it too Beat? I just hope this information doesn’t affect Neku too much” Joshua said telepathically as he watched Neku

 

“Don’t worry Joshua I know Neku will be okay” Rhyme said cheerfully

 

“Hang in there Neku. You gotta make it back” Taki thought in his head

 

“I hope they get a break today” Eri thought

 

Shiki and everyone else then walked away from their hiding places causing Neku to do the same

 

Shiki, also being connected to Neku’s soul like Joshua and Beat, also sensed his worries as she walked up to him.

 

“You okay Neku?” she asked concerned

 

“Yeah…I’m fine” Neku said hiding how he hates that he may have to fight Mr. H this day

 

Daisuke, Yusuke and Mitsuru all walked up to him too glad that he wasn’t hurt.

 

“I’m glad everyone’s safe,” Mitsuru said relived

 

“Yeah that was way too close” Yusuke added

 

“Do you think you’ll be able to handle it Neku?” Daisuke said curiously

 

“Handle what?” Neku asked

 

“You know what…you know exactly what I’m talking about don’t you?” Daisuke said pestering him

 

“Yusuke what’s he talking about?” Mitsuru whispered

 

“He’s referring to Neku’s energy he can sense somehow what Neku’s feeling.” Yusuke answered mentally

 

Hearing Yusuke say that made Neku become even more nervous hiding his face in his bangs and hands in his pockets

 

“How the hell is this guy able to sense my energy?! I…I thought only people that merge their souls together could do that…like how Beat, Joshua and Shiki can since they were my partners…his energy…it’s acting more and more demon like, what if he--

 

He then feels Shiki tap his left arm making him look up at Shiki and snap out of his fear of Daisuke's energy making him look at her then back at him.

 

“Neku it’s alright…I can see how much it’s troubling you, but if you don’t want to say anything that’s fine too.” Daisuke said walking away

 

“Hey where are you going?” Shiki asked

 

“Just to talk to Yusuke and Mitsuru for a sec.” he replied

 

Yusuke and Mitsuru then followed their friend

 

They got a certain distance away from Neku and Shiki and began talking to each other

 

“You know he’s afraid of me don’t you?” Daisuke asked Yusuke

 

“Daisuke don’t get so angry over that, you know Neku can’t help it. He’s not used to you like how we are.” Yusuke replied

 

“Yeah I’m sure Neku doesn’t really fear YOU just your energy, after all can you blame him? That’s what got you here to begin with.” Mitsuru added

 

“Yeah…but you guys are just as strong as me, so why doesn’t he fear you guys? You both have abilities that I don’t like you’re really good at killing Hunters at blinding speeds Yusuke.” Daisuke added

 

“Just give Neku some time, I'm sure he’ll get use to your energy like how we have. We know your not a bad person…it’s just that that energy lashes out of control making you get violent.” Mitsuru added

 

Daisuke then smiled a little from hearing her say that

 

“thanks guys” he said weakly

 

“any time” Mitsuru said smiling

 

Before walking back to them, Daisuke then asked Yusuke something

 

“Hey when the game begins do you think we should try  _that_  strategy? It worked before.” Daisuke asked

 

“Yeah I think it’ll work especially since one of the spirits here in our alliance is perfect to attract the Hunters…that person could be used as a Decoy since that person’s energy is a little weaker then the rest of us.” Yusuke added quietly

 

“How do you think Neku will feel about that?” Daisuke whispered

 

“Not sure but it’s for his safety, we need a person with High Imagination levels in order to survive, the best way to do that is to kill off the weakest member.” Yusuke added

 

They then walked back to Neku who felt his timer zap his hand again, at that moment everyone else felt their timers too.

 

80: 36

 

“At least the timer’s not going crazy yet.” Neku said weakly knowing full well what happened last time when his timer reached zero.

 

“yeah at least we’re getting closer and on top of that we should get a break soon since the moon yesterday was almost completely full.” Shiki said hopeful causing Mr. Mew to nod in agreement.

 

When seeing the piggy move they all looked at Shiki in shock

 

“what the hell was that?! You’re toy just MOVED!” Mitsuru yelled

 

“huh? Oh yeah, this is Mr. Mew, he’s the first thing I ever sewed. Well sort of. I started off with the basics of sewing, and then once I got that down, Mr. Mew became the first thing I ever sewed together. Back when I was in the Reapers’ Game I’d focus my mind on him to bring him to life…sort of…he would kind of do his own thing but I was the one commanding him to attack the Noise. But here in the Higher Plane he sort of has a mind of his own and reacts to my emotions and will even do certain things based off of what I’m feeling.” Shiki explained

 

“Heh I guess that would explain why he just nodded his head agreeing with you huh?” Yusuke said smiling

 

“Guys…look.” Mitsuru said pointing towards the end of the forest.

 

They all saw angel energy blowing up in the playing field

 

“No…the domes of energy look even bigger than last time.” Neku remarked clasping his shoulder

 

“Yeah…but we have the instant kill shot, and now you have those instant kill bullets we can still take them down.” Daisuke said reassuringly

 

“Huh? When did I do that?” Neku said confused

 

“Back when you protected me Neku, and you had that surge of energy, that’s when you did that attack.” Shiki said smiling a little causing him to smile back at her

 

They then all looked towards the edge of the forest and ran towards it

 

“If we split up we’ll be able to kill more Hunters that way.” Yusuke said

 

“Good idea” Neku answered

 

They then all split up with Neku and Shiki sticking together and Yusuke, Daisuke and Mitsuru being together.

 

As they all split up and ran into the field Neku ran into one of the energy mines causing him to go hurdling into the air while screaming from the energy burning him. A hunter spotted Neku and began slashing him with Angel energy making Neku scream in pain.

 

“Neku!” Shiki screamed

 

She then threw Mr. Mew into the air towards him

 

“GO MR. MEW!” she yelled

 

At her command the toy became a panther and tackled the Hunter causing him to go flying and Neku to go crashing to the ground landing on his back.

 

“Nnngh…my body’s burning” he said weakly as he got up

 

But as he did Shiki was filled with fear seeing how injured he was. The explosion Neku was caught in earlier actually tore parts of his body causing it to leak out his energy on his right shoulder, left forearm, right leg, and left cheek.

 

“No…at this rate he’ll--

 

Remembering not to think Shiki instantly pulled Neku towards her to heal him but an Angel swooped in and shot energy at Shiki causing her to go flying. At that moment the panther Mr. Mew stopped attacking the Hunter who harmed Neku and raced after Shiki.

 

Neku tried to run after her but had energy shot at his back sending him rolling onto the ground. When he looked at the Angel responsible for attacking him his eyes widened filled with fear and anxiety

 

“Mr. Hanekoma!” Neku yelled

 

But he was silent and charged the instant kill shot in his left hand.

 

“No…Mr. H! Sanae! don’t!” Neku said fearfully

 

Since Mr. H is the most powerful Angel in the Higher Plane next to Neku for that reason in the Angels’ Game he has to power down just a little bit so he can save his strength and stay in battle longer, a downside he faces for being so powerful is that it costs more energy for him to use if he’s at full power.

 

As Mr. H approached Neku, Yusuke, Daisuke and Mitsuru were also struggling.

 

Yusuke teleported around the Hunters attacking them slashing them with his energy over and over, another Hunter pulled him towards him from behind and blasted his back with Angel energy causing him to scream in pain.

 

Mitsuru then blasted powerful energy surging like fire at them causing the Angels to viciously attack her making her scream in pain.

 

As Daisuke witnessed this he ran towards his friends only to get caught in an energy mine causing him to leak energy too like Neku. Angels then swarmed Daisuke slashing him with energy over and over making him scream in pain.

 

Another Hunter then blasted energy into his back making Daisuke slam onto the floor wheezing in pain as he saw his friends suffer.

 

Yusuke fired the instant kill shot causing him to kill one of the hunters but by doing so one punched him in the face causing him to roll on the ground landing in an energy mine.

 

One of the Hunters than grabbed Yusuke by his neck and slammed him onto the ground. Mitsuru ran up to him but an Angel grabbed her by the arm and electrocuted her.

 

Daisuke was filled with rage as they were attacked more and more until they nearly collapsed on the ground. They tried to make a run for it and try to get Daisuke before heading back to the forest but they couldn’t escape.

 

His anger increased more and more until his felt his eyes burning causing him to squint from the pain. He opened his eyes to reveal them to be burgundy and pupiless again letting out an distorted sounding roar. He then pounced at the Hunters attacking his friends and viciously slashed them

 

“I’M NOT GONNA LOSE THEEEEEEEM!” he screamed Daisuke then unleashed a massive dome of energy knocking back all of the Angels. When they were a certain distance he then launched the instant kill shot at them making them all fade into orbs before every orb disappeared.

 

He then grabbed them and started running towards the not so safe Safe Zone where they would heal themselves and then go get Neku and Shiki.

 

As Shiki attacked a Hunter she and Mr. Mew mimicked each other’s moves fighting in perfect unison as they attempted to slash the Hunter (shiki with her energy, and Mr. Mew’s panther form with his claws) they both managed to attack the Hunter landing powerful blows on the Angel before he teleported away from them.

 

the Angel then blasted a massive amount of energy making Shiki scream in pain as she was burned, the Hunter then slammed her onto the ground causing her to get cracks on her glasses.

 

Having no time at all to fix them, Neku’s friends watched filled with sadness as they saw her struggle to attack the Hunters. As soon as Neku heard Shiki scream he tried to run to where he sensed her energy but Mr. H teleported in front of him causing him to gasp from him appearing so suddenly

 

“Rrrgh! Crap! Come on Sanae, you know I can’t fight you like this!” Neku yelled shaking his fist at him

 

“Then you’ll be captured” Mr. H said telepathically

 

Neku then flashed back to when Mr. H explained the rules of the Fledgling Angels’ Game for the first time.

 

_“when an Angel catches you, you’re killed on the spot meaning that you’ve lost the Game”_

 

“NO! I won’t let you kill me but…I’m not gonna kill you either!” Neku screamed angrily

 

He then turned his back to Mr. H and tried to run to Shiki again only to have Mr. H teleport to him again.

 

Mr. H then flashed back to when he was training to be a Hunter for the first time.

 

_“When facing the little Fledglings you need to treat them as your enemy, as much as this goes against your morals as an Angel Sanae, you must kill them when facing them in combat.” Aiden said sternly_

_“I understand Head Maestro sir”_

 

“I’m sorry” Mr. H said in his head

 

He then raised his left hand pointing the instant kill shot right at Neku making his irises tremble with fear.

 

“Mr. H…Sanae don’t do this” Neku said weakly

 

He then fired the energy straight for Neku causing him to duck making it miss him by a few inches when Neku then stood up Mr. H grabbed Neku’s funnel collar and electrocuted him making Neku scream to the point he was crying from the pain.

 

As his body trembled from the electrocution he then holds his handout sending a gust of wind towards Mr. H blowing him away causing him to drop Neku.

 

Neku laid on the ground overwhelmed with pain as he saw orbs of his energy begin to fly away from him

 

“Nngh…Shi…ki…where are…you? I…I’m…I’m close…to…Fading…I…I can’t move.” he said out loud

 

Beat feels his eyes water as he sees Neku laying on the ground wheezing in pain, struggling to get up as he pushed himself up with his hands and seeing such an awful thing made Rhyme cry never taking her eyes away from the portal.

 

“Neku…get up…please…I know you can beat this Game please…get up” Rhyme said with her voice shaking

 

Taki was filled with so much hate that his hands trembled as they were balled up into fists. He was filled with so much hate that his eyes became demon eyes.

 

“Neku…come on! GET UP!” he thought

 

“Neku…I thought you were better than this…are you really just going to lay there and let Shiki suffer?” Joshua thought

 

“Mr. H…at this rate I…I don’t know what we’re going to do about Anthony…at this rate Neku will Fade.” Joshua said to him telepathically

 

“I know…I’m starting to wonder if he’ll make it too Joshua.” Mr. H thought sadly as he attacked other Players

 

“Shiki…I…I can’t hear you…are you…gone? Please…don’t Fade…I can’t lose another friend…I’ve gotten so close to losing you before.” he whispered to himself trying to stay awake

 

He then remembered what Joshua told him before entering the Game

 

“You need to improve your endurance,  _even more_ , _Neku, think of this Game as preparation for your training. You can’t afford to pass out when facing Anthony or the Soul Steelers… cause then…it’s over.”_

 

“Improve my endurance” Neku whispered

 

He then closed his eyes so he didn’t see his energy leaking out of him

 

“Improve my endurance” he mumbled

 

As he kept pushing himself Neku felt himself stand up as he pushed himself up with his arms, eventually pressing them against his legs and finally stood up.

 

“Shiki…SHIKI! WHERE ARE YOU?!” Neku screamed

 

He then felt someone tap his back causing him to look behind him to see her covered in scratches and her piggy gushing out cotton.

 

Neku began to pant from the fatigue he felt and caught Shiki who nearly passed out but as he did his vision began to blur and became extremely dizzy causing him to pass out.

 

Mr. H found them both laying unconscious  facing each other with Neku facing the left and Shiki facing the right and became his human form seeing that he didn’t need to use so much energy.

 

“It’s fitting for them to Fade like this…always being by each other’s side…all the way to the end.” he thought sadly

 

Mr. H couldn’t help but flashback to all the times they’ve shared in the Higher Plane: remembering when he shielded Neku with his wings from Clarissa saving him from being killed by her.

 

Teaching him how to heal himself with his mind when he first got to the Higher Plane,

 

and telling him about Soul Obstruction, the time he and Neku had coffee with Shiki,

 

And when he pulled Neku‘s hands away from his head from squeezing his hair, when he learned how he nearly killed his friends.

 

All of the memories filled him with sadness knowing that his duty would mean that they never happened

 

“I guess I’m the one who has to pretend I never met you huh Phones? I’m so sorry…don’t worry though…Joshua and I we’ll…we’ll figure something out” he said aloud feeling his eyes begin to burn

 

“I guess I’ll have to remove my memories of you Neku cause now…you…will have never been born” he said sadly

 

He then charged up the instant kill shot in right hand and pointed it at Neku while charging one in his left hand for Shiki. But the moment he did this a redish orange blur of energy swooped in and made them disappear causing Mr. H to sigh with relief and go full blast again and fired the instant kill shots at other Players.

 

Neku and Shiki laid unconscious in the forest and Mitsuru began healing them of their wounds, as she healed them she then talked to Yusuke and Daisuke about the plan.

 

“Do you really think we should follow through with it? I mean look at them, Neku’s not gonna be able to take much more of the Game at this rate.” she said sadly

 

“I know but you saw who almost killed him too, that Angel with the sunglasses something tells me he knew Neku at some point, we need to take advantage of his hesitation which means we need to lure the Hunters into a trap.” Yusuke said firmly

 

“yeah and the only way they’ll fall for it is if they have bait. We need someone to go out there and the moment they do, an Angel will spot them and they’ll be killed on sight. We need to get rid of the weakest link, it’ll help us survive another day.” Daisuke added

 

“Are you sure? I mean what if Neku doesn’t like the plan and turns on us?” Mitsuru said concerned

 

“then we’ll just have to reason with him and get him to see things our way” Yusuke replied

 

“It’s the fastest way to end the Game, we need a person with a strong imagination like him. in this version if either Players or Hunters are all killed then the Game’s over even if we’re not through the whole week” Daisuke said reminding Mitsuru

 

“yeah…I know” she said weakly

 

“The moment Neku and Shiki wake up I’ll tell them about the plan” Mitsuru said sternly

 

As she healed them more both Neku and Shiki’s wounds began to heal and fade away causing their bodies and clothes to no longer be torn or covered with scratches.

 

Mitsuru then smiled and backed up as Neku finally began to open his eyes

 

“Nngh…Mitsuru…what happened?” he said weakly

 

She then smiled glad that he was okay deep down she didn’t want to see Neku as just a Higher Mind, the only spirit strong enough to help them survive but she knew better then to grow attachment towards other Players.

 

“Nothing…Yusuke just saved you that’s all” Mitsuru said smiling

 

“Huh? You saved me?” Neku said looking towards Yusuke

 

“well yeah, we’re part of an alliance so we need to watch out for each other.” he said walking towards Neku

 

Shiki then woke up happy to see that Neku was okay

 

“Who healed us?” she said weakly

 

“Me” Mitsuru replied

 

Neku then got to his feet and helped Shiki get up

 

“You okay Shiki?” he said concerned

 

“Yeah” she said smiling at him

 

“Bur Mr. Mew…

 

She said sadly picking up her piggy

 

“He’s just as messed up as we were.” she said sadly while holding it against her chest, simultaneously fixing the toy

 

“You realize that’s what you guys were right? Just as beat up as that toy, if Yusuke hadn’t had come to you both when he did, then that Angel with those sunglasses on would’ve killed you.” Daisuke said darkly

 

Hearing that description made Neku get a knot in his stomach

 

“No…wha...what’d you say?!” Neku yelled turning behind him to Daisuke

 

“That Angel nearly killed you Neku, both you and Shiki passed out. He had Instant kill shots in his hands for each of you, and aimed at you first Neku.” Daisuke said emotionlessly

 

Neku was filled with heartache and sadness he couldn’t believe how the Game made Mr. H do such a thing how the man that’s protected him all this time was put into a situation where he had to kill him. He was in a state of shock

 

“Mr. H” Neku said weakly

 

“He wouldn’t do that…I know he wouldn’t do that to me.” he said refusing to accept what he heard.

 

“It’s not true right Daisuke?” Shiki said hurt

 

“It is…that Angel for whatever reason was hesitant at killing you two, and we need to take advantage of that. It's because of that Yusuke, Mitsuru and I have a plan, but we weren’t sure how to execute it or how the plan would turn out.” Daisuke said nonchalantly

 

“We were waiting for the proper time to tell you two and now that we finally have a chance to catch our breath so to speak, now we can finally tell you it.” Mitsuru added

 

“We need to make a diversion we have to distract the Hunters some how. We all know that their job is to kill us so, once they spot us they’ll attempt to kill us again. We make a run for it instead of fighting, naturally they’ll follow us and that’s our chance to hide and have the chance to ambush them.” Yusuke said quietly

 

“Will that work?” Neku said weakly

 

“Yeah, I’ve seen Hunters get killed this way before so I know it’ll work” Yusuke replied

 

“You guys won’t target Mr. H right?” Neku said hiding his face

 

“No… that’s only if he takes the bait and--

 

“NO!” Neku screamed cutting off Yusuke

 

“I’m not gonna turn against Mr. Hanekoma! I don’t care if he’s a Hunter! I’m not gonna try to kill him!” Neku screamed shaking his fist

 

“Neku calm down!” Shiki said placing her hand on his shoulder

 

“Mr. H is too smart to fall for something like this, he’s not gonna get involved Neku…I know he won’t” Shiki said reassuringly

 

He then looked towards her and smiled nodding his head once and then looked back at Yusuke. They couldn't help but feel like they shouldn't show favoritism around, Yusuke, Daisuke and Mitsuru, that they can call him Sanae, and feel like they should only do that whenit's just the two of them near Mr. H

 

“Alright…I’m in.” he said firmly

 

“Me too” Shiki said seriously

 

As they all prepared to initiate their plan knowing full well what would happen from sensing Yusuke and the others’ intentions Anthony smiled knowing that Neku would soon be in danger again.

 

“Everything’s going perfectly the moment their little plan unfolds I’ll start unlocking his seal.” Anthony said to Izawa causing his Watchman to smile

 

They all hid behind the trees they would return to later remembering that part of their plan is to lure the Angels into the forest so they could spread their energy around the Safe Zone making it harder to track them. As they all got ready to run to the playing field Neku felt a sharp pain in his head

 

“Nnngh…no…why now?!” he said weakly

 

“Did you really think you were safe from me? I’ve been watching you Neku…back when you were pushing yourself trying to save Shiki earlier and passed out…I was the one who drained just a small portion of your energy giving that last push to collapse.” Anthony said telepathically

 

“No! that was…you?” Neku said squeezing his hair

 

“Of course, it’s like I told you before Neku…I’m always watching you. Right now I’m just waiting for the perfect moment to kill you when there isn’t so much interference from the Angels’ Game. Try all you want to survive Neku but no matter what happens I can easily kill you…so have a fun time playing the Game little boy, I’ve been enjoying your agony” he said darkly

 

Neku then lets out little whimpers of pain as he felt his headache increase in its intensity

 

“Neku” Shiki said weakly

 

She then quietly and very slowly walked over to him and placed her hand on his left shoulder making his headache stop

 

“You okay?” she said quietly

 

“The pain’s gone” he thought letting go of his hair

 

“Yeah…it was…him again. He’s watching me Shiki…he said that he’s going to kill me the moment he gets the chance but…he hasn‘t done that yet cause of the Angels‘ Game.” he said weakly

 

“Then, let’s not give him that chance Neku. Just a little longer and we’ll beat the Game right?” she said sweetly

 

“yeah” he said smiling a little

 

Shiki then got back to her position

 

Yusuke then looked at each of them and pointed towards the playing field causing them all to run towards it hoping to attract Hunters

 

They then immediately ran towards the playing field and generated their energies to get four Hunters to follow them sure enough, it worked and they all immediately ran back into the forest.

 

“Remember the plan?” Yusuke said telepathically to everyone

 

“Yeah we've got this” Neku exclaimed mentally

 

They all split up still keeping an aura of their energies going, making the Hunters curious they all split up into different groups and followed each Player.

 

Neku and everyone else teleported away from them hiding behind trees. Due to how they had scattered their energies everywhere it became difficult to track the Players.

 

“This is unusual behavior for a Player, whoever made this little plan they’re all following has obviously played this version before.” one of the Angels said telepathically

 

Eventually as they searched the forest for them, the members of the alliance all began to teleport in different directions leading towards the edge of the forest, causing the Hunters to follow them.

 

Yusuke looked at Daisuke, Mitsuru, Neku and Shiki. They all nodded their heads in understanding. He then looked back at Tetsu again who looked at Yusuke with sort of sad eyes. He then closed his eyes and focused sending the decoy out to the Hunters, the spirit that was just barely a little weaker then everyone else.

 

The moment Neku saw who it was he felt his stomach crunch with anger, and became overwhelmed with fear and concern as that person was sent flying with Hunters flying towards the spirit.

 

Neku then instantly left his position and ran towards the playing field desperate to get to the decoy as he ran to the person he then saw a Hunter shoot the instant kill shot at the decoy.

 

“NOOOOOOO!” he screamed enraged

 

He then tackled Shiki to the ground causing the instant kill shot to miss Neku only by a few inches just barely escaping instant Soul Obstruction while simultaneously shielding her in a dome of his energy making him scream from the energy tearing his back.

 

“Neku! Your back’s leaking energy!” Shiki screamed horrified

 

“Nngh…Nevermind that, we have to get out of here!” he yelled at her

 

He then stood up and held his hand out to Shiki and pulled her up, the moment she got to her feet, he squeezed her hand and ran towards the not-so-safe Safe Zone and generated instant kill shots out of his dome of energy firing it at the angels behind them cutting them down from 45 Hunters to 21.

 

As the instant kill shots hit the hunters, more hunters appear and blast energy at Neku’s dome trying to break it, but the more they tried to do this, the more Neku pushed himself to make his energy stronger.

 

“I gotta keep running” he’s whisper to himself

 

Another Hunter strikes the barrier causing its dome like shape to get a jagged spike in it. More and more Angels did this causing the barrier to look more spikey. As Mr. H hunted more Players cutting them down to fifteen Players he couldn’t help but feel concern for Neku.

 

Even with his Angel energy locked inside him, since the energy is from Mr. H he could sense how Neku wanted to tap into his Angel energy how he craved something to give him a boost of energy that wouldn’t hurt his friends.

 

On top of that he could also sense Neku’s fatigue, he was getting close to reaching his limit. He could only hold the barrier for so long.

 

“How is he doing that?” Mr. H wondered knowing Neku’s not strong enough to block Angel energy being fired in their true form. As he watched the angels attack the barrier Mr. H looked very closely and smiled at Neku’s strategy

 

“there you go Phones.” he thought happily

 

“he’s using his mind to push the Angel energy with a gust of wind to sort of redirect it, since he knows he can’t actually block it. But still, when their energy does hit the barrier it really hurts Phones in the process” he thought concerned

 

Another angel hits Neku’s barrier with energy and sends a sharp jolt of pain to him

 

“AAAAGH!” Neku screamed

 

“Neku! Please hang in there!" Shiki said worried

 

But he didn’t answer all he concentrated on was getting her to the safe zone to escape being fired at, for a certain time at least

 

Shiki was filled with concern and grief as she saw Neku pant from exhaustion and yet, he was still running.

 

“Neku…” Shiki said sadly

 

He ran faster and faster squeezing her hand even more determined to feel her, to make sure that Shiki was still next to him. Eventually his determination lead him back to the safe zone where he finally lowered his barrier.

 

After taking a moment to catch his breath Neku then looked ahead with sharp eyes and lets go of Shiki’s hand

 

“Who’s idea was this?” Neku snarled

 

He then waited but no one appeared to him

 

Anthony then thought that this would be a good time to mess with Neku’s seal again and help amplify his anger making Neku feel his head pounding again from Anthony beginning to mess with his Demon energy

 

“Nngh…what’s…happening to me?” he said weakly squeezing his hair

 

“Neku your Seal’s beginning to tear apart!” Shiki screamed

 

She then generated pink energy in her hands knowing that she could neutralize it if it was weak and then placed her hands on Neku’s causing him to let go of his hair and hang his head

 

“you okay?” Shiki said worried

 

“yeah” he said weakly

 

He then lets go of her hand and asks again

 

“Who’s idea was this?!” he screamed

 

Yusuke, Daisuke and Mitsuru then appeared to him

 

“It…was…me” Yusuke said emotionlessly

 

“YOU?!” Neku roared shaking his fist

 

“Why would you do that to Shiki?! HOW COULD YOU JUST TOSS HER AWAY LIKE THAT?! LIKE SHE DOESN'T MATTER?!” he screamed unaware that his demon energy was beginning to spike up

 

“CAUSE THAT’S HOW THIS GAME IS PLAYED!” Yusuke yelled back

 

“IS  _THIS_ ANY WAY TO TREAT THE PERSON THAT’S SAVED YOUR ASS FROM SOUL OBSTRUCTION?! YOU’D BE GONE RIGHT NOW NEKU IF I HADN’T HAD FOUND YOU!” he added

 

“RRRGH! SHUT UP!” Neku yelled

 

“YOU CAN’T JUST ACT LIKE THAT EXCUSES YOU FOR DOING THIS! WHY?! WHY DID YOU SEND SHIKI TO DIE?!” Neku screamed with rage

 

“CAUSE SHE’S THE WEAKEST PERSON HE--

 

Yusuke then goes flying back from Neku punching him in the mouth, this then caused Daisuke to snarl.

 

“Daisuke…Neku needs to do this” Mitsuru said quietly

 

“AND DON’T ACT LIKE YOU TWO WEREN’T INVOLVED! YOU ALL KNEW THIS DIDN’T YOU!” Neku said feeling his eyed begin to burn

 

 **“Trust no one”**  Anthony imprinted 

 

 **“You have no one to blame**  for this  **but yourself”**

 

Neku then clenched his teeth and felt his hands ball up into fists and felt them tremble too.

 

“Did you two know about this? …did you guys plan to kill Shiki Misaki?” he snarled in a quiet voice

 

“Neku…you need to calm down” Shiki said weakly

 

“We knew about this but…we were doing this to keep you safe…so that you could last in the Game longer and we could be a stronger team…but to do that we had to get rid of--

 

“So you lied” Neku said cutting off Mitsuru

 

Neku then felt his eyes burn flashing back to when he cried from Joshua betraying him

 

“You guys…you all pretended to care about me and Shiki…all I was to you was some… ‘Get out of Fading free card’ I was just…something to use against the Hunters...I was just…a weapon.” he said hurt

 

His fists tightened to the point the trembles as tears built by his eyes

 

“Neku…I…I’m so sorry” Shiki said sadly knowing all too well how betrayal hurts Neku

 

“I...I trusted you.  _We_  trusted you…and you treated us like trash…we weren’t even people to you!” he said enraged shaking his fist again

 

“Neku, look we didn’t mean to get you upset we just--

 

“YOU JUST USED ME TO WIN THE GAME!” Neku screamed while pouncing at Yusuke

 

They then rolled over and over down into the forest causing Yusuke’s friends to run after them and Shiki running after Neku

 

Yusuke and Neku punched each other in the face over and over but since Neku’s demon energy was beginning to feed off of his anger he became much stronger physically (due to how his seal is tighter this time Neku’s only getting the physical powers of a demon not the energy)

 

Neku then punched Yusuke causing him to go flying banging his back against a tree only to have Neku instantly pounce at Yusuke again letting out an inhuman roar.

 

“I’m gonna make you pay!” Neku screamed

 

He tackled Yusuke again and they started to roll down towards the incline of the forest and started to roll down hill.

 

As Yusuke and Neku slashed each other with energy they both would fall scraping their bodies against rocks, Yusuke then blasted Neku in the chest sending him flying.

 

Yusuke then leaped into the air above Neku and round housed kicked him in the stomach sending Neku flying landing on his back making more orbs leak out of him.

 

He then gets up to see Yusuke firing his energy at him causing Neku to teleport away from him at a certain distance.

 

“You wanted to see the strength of someone with a strong imagination, right? Well…even if this Seal on my shoulder does weaken my mind and energy…I’m still strong enough to kill you.” Neku snarled

 

He then blasted a massive amount of energy at Yusuke causing him to teleport away from him making Neku blow up parts of the forest, making Shiki and Yusuke’s friends all scream at Neku to stop that he needs to calm down.

 

Neku’s eyes met Yusuke’s spotting his enemy just a few feet away from him. Neku then takes a deep breath while closing his eyes and exhales creating the instant kill shot in his right hand.

Yusuke closes his eyes and does the same only generating the instant kill shot in left hand instead, something that made Joshua’s eyes glued to the portal filled with a sense of concern towards Neku.

 

“STOP! STOP IT NEKU! You’re scaring me! You’re acting like a demon!” Shiki screamed

 

The moment he heard her say such an awful thing he was sort of snapped out of his anger, like he was in a trance.

 

“Yusuke…Neku’s calmed down you don’t need to do this!” Daisuke screamed

 

“Stop it Yusuke! Please!” Mitsuru yelled

 

“NO! I’m finishing what I started” he said just barley beyond a whisper

 

He then charged towards Neku causing his eyes to widen with rage, and Neku’s to widen out of shock

 

“Did I…really hurt him this badly? Did I…did I really act like a demon?” Neku mumbled remarking on how Yusuke’s clothes and body was torn up with holes in them.

 

Yusuke then ran faster towards Neku making all his friends in the Slaughter Room become overwhelmed with concern

 

“Phones! Don’t jus’ stand there man! You gotta fight back yo!” Beat shouted

 

“How could he lose control like that? Neku man…you was acttin’…like Damien or somethin’ yo. Please Phones…don’tchu scare me like that man. Damn…that demon punk messin’ with you…you gotta get through this Phones…you…you’re startin’ to get better with that huffin’ and puffin’ yo. It’s gettin’ harder to knock you out…you’re not there yet but…you ARE gettin’ there. You're getting stronger than when we were in the Reaper's Game” Beat thought sadly

 

Yusuke then attempted to stab Neku with the energy except the moment he swung the energy at Neku he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

 

“NOOOOO!” Mitsuru screamed with her eyes watering

 

Out of complete adrenaline Neku had generated the instant kill shot just in time to save himself from being stabbed. The moment Neku’s energy went into Yusuke, he dissolved into redish orange orbs and dissappeared making Neku lower his hands and have his instant kill shot dissolve.

 

Daisuke then lets out an inhuman roar and pounced at Neku only to have Mitsuru tackle him to the ground

 

“GO!” she screamed

 

“Get out of here, both of you run! When he’s like this I can only restrain him for so long!” Mitsuru added

 

Filled with shock, confusion and heartache they both left Daisuke and Mitsuru and ran deeper into the forest filled with sadness as they heard Daisuke and Mitsuru cry

 

“None of us…wanted to hurt you” he heard Daisuke said sadly

 

“We had to do it…if even one person is just a little weaker in the group…we…we’re declared easier to kill…we just…didn’t want to…Fade” Mitsuru said crying both over the loss of Yusuke and guilt

 

Their confessions were the last thing Neku and Shiki heard before their voices faded out.

 

 

To be continued...


	4. Trapped

THE 5th DAY

 

They both ran deeper into the forest determined to get away and find a place to hide noticing how the forest had grown darker, (like it was dusk and the sky was just starting to turn dark) and yet they still had their timers so they knew that they had to be careful for no one to see them causing them to slow down and begin to walk making sure to stay deep within the forest canopy to hide from the Angels until they were ready to fight again if necessary.

 

“Do you think we’re safe?” Shiki said quietly

 

“I’m not sure” Neku said hanging his head a little

 

He then looked at her noticing how she looked sad like she felt guilty or something.

 

“Shiki what’s wrong?” Neku said sadly

 

“You’re hurt” she said hanging her head

 

“Huh?” Neku said confused

 

“Oh…yeah…from before” he said clenching his right arm from feeling it sting

 

He was covered in scratches from scraping his body against rocks as he rolled downhill from when he fought with Yusuke

 

She then noticed that he still had orbs coming out of his back knowing how risky that is, she got ready to heal him making pink energy engulf her hands.

 

She then placed them on Neku’s waist seeing that he had a scratch there and began healing him causing Neku to close his eyes to let the energy flow. She then placed her hand on his chest and tried to use more energy, she focused on healing his entire body causing her to have a pink aura around her. It then flowed to Neku healing his body of all the scratches and bruises he had and then opened her eyes.

 

As an added bonus she tapped into her mind and expanded her abilities as a Seamstress making the fabric of Neku’s shirt begin to stitch itself back together (with the exception of his back) simply by looking at the part of the shirt that was torn. She also did this to fix his shorts due to them getting torn too. Neku then opened his eyes and smiled a little

 

“My back still stings” he said weakly

 

“Really? Only stinging?” Shiki remarked as she walked being him

 

She then smiled, happy to only see small orbs coming out of him instead of the usual bowling ball size.

 

“I think I know why” she said smiling

 

“Your back isn’t leaking energy like it usually does because of how that instant kill shot only scraped your back, rather than stabbing it, cause when you're stabbed in the back well…you know what happens” Shiki added

 

“yeah” Neku said hanging his head

 

Shiki then tried to heal his back but, repairing a Soul who’s had their body torn is something she’s never learned how to do. She can heal wounds on the surface with no problem but usually, Mr. H heals wounds that are this deep.

 

She placed her hand engulfed with healing energy on his back feeling the warmth of the energy leaking out of him making Neku cringe from having her touch his back.

 

“You okay?” she asked sensing how he became tenser

 

“yeah I’m fine…it just still hurts when someone touches my back when it’s leaking” he said sadly

 

“don’t worry I’ll try to make this stop” she said sweetly

 

She then closed her eyes and focused on intensifying her energy knowing that she can’t think, she merely relied on imagination and imagined her energy becoming more intense, making it stronger so she could heal him. She focused on this image in her mind making it become real.

 

Her energy reacted to it and became a light pink energy with a pinkish-red color in the center. As Shiki focused Neku smiled turning his head towards her before looking back, happy that she was making the stinging lesson.

 

However, due to how Neku’s soul received a deep wound that would need Angel energy to be fully healed, she was only able to reduce the hole in his back, making it a small football shape going vertically down his spine. She then held her hand over his back to make his shirt fix itself.

 

It was something that amazed Neku, how she could manipulate thread like that and actually make the torn pieces of his shirt come together to fix itself.

 

Although he wasn’t able to obviously watch her do this to his back he could feel the thread tug against his back making him smile. When she was finished she then lowered her hand and walked back towards him.

 

“So how do you feel? Are you okay?” Shiki said smiling

 

“yup, I’m a lot better now thanks to you. You know you’ve gotten really good at healing Shiki.” Neku said with his smug smile with his hand on his hip

 

She then couldn’t help but feel sad and hang her head after hearing him say that. Mr. Mew (who was on her shoulder the whole time) then climbed down for her to hold against her chest

 

“Heh, even if I have gotten stronger, even if I improve…nothing’s changed. not even in the Higher Plane…where the Afterlife is supposed to have limitless possibilities, I still do things wrong. This is just like old times isn’t Neku?” she said sadly

 

His smile immediately went away causing him to have his hands in his pockets (making sure that he doesn’t squeeze the picture Rhyme made him in his right pocket) and looked at her intensely

 

“what are you talking about?” Neku asked

 

“How this is…just like when we were in the Reapers’ Game. How I’d drag you down and hold you back.” Shiki said weakly

 

She then lets go of Mr. Mew with her left hand and has her palm facing Neku with it reading

70:23

 

“We’re in a Game just like it, and here I am holding you back again. The clock’s ticking and we can’t even fight back.”

 

 

Neku then hides his face in his funnel collar

 

“Shiki…how can you even say that?” Neku said in angry tone

 

“Huh?” Shiki exclaimed startled by his tone of voice raising her head

 

“That you’re holding me back” he answered “Yeah it’s true that our souls are at different levels of strength but, that doesn’t mean you’re weak”

 

Shiki then felt her eyes water

 

“Yes I am, compared to them. I’m not as strong as you Neku, their energies are almost on par with you! Don’t you see what that means?! That’s why I was sent to be killed they were doing that cause I’m WEAK! Everything that happened just now was because of that! I‘m the weakest Player! All those injuries you got, all of that anger and sadness you felt from being hurt, all of that could‘ve been avoided if it wasn‘t for ME!” she screamed at him

 

Neku then raised his head and held out his left hand with its palm faced upward

 

“Don’t tell me after all of this, after all of the things you’ve gone through as a person…all the things we went through back then were for nothing. Is that really how you feel? That you’re just going to slip back?” Neku asked concerned

 

Realizing what Neku meant she looked at her artistic friend completely surprised like she was shocked that he didn’t hold all of that against her.

 

“What? Slip back?” She said confused

 

“Yeah, back to the old you, to the Shiki who thought she was worthless, the person that would be happy pretending to be someone she’s not. The person that was scared of getting a second chance.” he answered sensing how deep her sadness was, that it swirled into feelings of guilt and regret

 

“No, I know that I’m not worthless now…that I don’t drag people down…but…how can you say that when I was almost killed because of it?” she said still upset

 

“Shiki, just cause your Soul’s not on par with my energy it doesn’t mean your weak. You said it yourself, compared to yourself they were stronger than you but that’s just it, that’s how THEY are. Not how YOU are. Even if you’re not at my level of imagination, that doesn’t mean your weak, your able to do things that I can’t.” he said sternly

 

“R-Really?” Shiki said shocked

 

He then had his smug smile with his left hand on his hip again.

 

“Well yeah…you’re able to heal wounds a lot faster than me, it still takes a lot of concentration for me to do that. Especially if I’m in a situation where I have to hurry. You’re able to send your mind into your piggy and control him when he’s in his panther form or toy form, and on top of that, you were able to separate your mind from your Soul to come find me. You may not realize it but, I think that already proves that you have better control over your mind than me.”

 

He then had his right hand in his pocket with his left palm facing her again

 

“I can only control it to create things and things to attack but you’re able to go a step beyond and sort of go inside someone’s mind and channel your energy through them like when you found me when I was controlled by Clarissa. On top of that, you can even mimic people's abilities, like that time you fought like me and even had my eye color. So even if my mind is really strong and I’m able to imagine anything, you have more control over the mind in some ways that I don’t. Everyone has something that they struggle with…and those are just a few things that are hard for me to do.” Neku admitted sensing how she was cheering up

 

“You…You really mean that?” Shiki said weakly

 

He then had his usual pose for his smug smile

 

“Count on it. You’ve really gotten stronger since when we first came here Shiki. Heh heh, besides are you really saying you’d rather be a Higher Mind getting constantly hunted by Demons and watched over by the Higher Ups? Screw that! Heh it freaking sucks.” Neku said smiling

 

Shiki then giggled

 

“yeah I guess it does suck when you put it that way.” she said happily

 

“Biggest understatement of all Eternity” Neku said also happily

 

They then chuckled happy that no matter what happened, the impact their Pact from the Reapers’ Game made on each other’s mind and Souls was still in effect, that their souls empowered each other. It was almost like they knew how to cheer each other up, making Beat smile at Rhyme making her giggle.

 

Even Joshua chuckled sensing how his Game really did impact them both.

 

“I guess the Reapers’ Game helped them both in ways I didn’t even expect it to. The connections to his partners are even stronger now that his Soul is set free…I can’t help but feel…happy…heh I guess that’s from my pact with him too. Even if I have to tone down the strength of my soul around him, just like the UG. And having your minds all become one in the Higher Plane helps too of course” Joshua thought

 

 

The timer then changes to a slight purple color, making Neku look at her timer concerned

 

 

"The Death Bringer is a little close, we better keep moving" Neku said wanting to protect his friend

 

 

They then head deeper into the forest, making the timer go back to its normal blue color causing her to place her left hand back on Mr. Mew. As they walked deeper into the crystal forest, they saw a person in the distance, making Neku pull Shiki behind her.

 

"Be careful. It might be an Angel in human form, that's what makes it risky interacting with people in the forest. You'll be able to tell if it's a Player if the person has the Player Seal showing." Neku said warning her.

 

Shiki then looked at him and nodded

 

She then checked her timer again and saw it was getting more purple, making her gasp

 

"Neku! The Death Bringer is coming!" Shiki said worried

 

Neku then looked at his timer to see it was also getting more purple

 

"Crap...we gotta get out of here but...we can't let ourselves be spotted by that person, at least...not until we know if it's a Player" he said sternly

 

"Yeah, good idea" Shiki added

 

They walked quietly getting closer to the person while trying to avoid being spotted and tried walking past the person, noticing it was a girl with platinum hair and green eyes, with a purple short sleeve shirt on with a black star on top with a silver version of the pendant Rhyme wears.

 

She had blueish gray skinny jeans matching the style of Joshua's skinny jeans and black converse shoes. As they walked passed her, they tried to see if they could spot a player seal, but also considered the fact that the seal may be covered up by the shirt, similar to how Shiki's doesn't show.

 

The two worried teens then tried to keep being quiet but at that moment, the girl began to look towards Neku and Shiki. The moment they made eye-contact, Neku and Shiki got headaches and looked at each other

 

"Neku! You okay?" Shiki said hoping that he wasn't really hurt again

 

"Nngh! Yeah but--"

 

he then looks at her and notices she wasn't transparent

 

"Aw snap! Shiki...we're back to being dead people again instead of ghosts!" he said in his shocked pose

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shiki then held out her hand for Neku to grab it and then helped him get up having to hold him as he wrapped his right arm around her shoulder

 


	5. The Untouchable Player

THE 4TH DAY

 

 

Neku’s friends then noticed that the sky was getting darker to the point that they could all see stars, and all noticed Neku and Shiki looking towards the sky and were filled with a sense of relief.

 

“It’s finally here!” Shiki exclaimed happily

 

“Yeah, we finally get a break!” Neku exclaimed smiling

 

“So do you think this’ll extend over to tomorrow or does it end the moment the Sun rises?” Shiki said curiously

 

Neku then clasped his left shoulder hiding his mouth

 

“No idea…but…

 

He then raised his head smiling at her and lowered his hand to his side

 

“We can at least be happy that we finally can relax and not feel like we’re being watched.” he said remarking on her concerns

 

Shiki then smiled back at him

 

“Yeah you’re right Neku” Shiki said happily

 

They then decided to get some well deserved rest and take a nap knowing that they’ll need their strength if their break ended in the morning.

 

“Um Neku where would we sleep? I mean we’re in a forest so not exactly the best location to be sleeping on the floor. You know, with all of its nasty little bugs on the floor and dirt and stuff.” Shiki said remarking on their idea of sleeping

 

“Well I could imagine us up some beds or something…

 

Neku then had a better idea, determined to never see her in danger of being shot at again, he tapped into his memories of his first time playing the Angels’ Game (Fledgling version) and remembered a part of the forest that was past the incline he and Yusuke had rolled down earlier.

 

“On second thought, follow me. I’ll show you a spot I found the last time I played this Game.” Neku said smiling

 

“Oh, sure Neku” Shiki said also smiling

 

He then generated energy in his left hand to use as a source of light as they traveled, making Shiki feel concerned about his most recent injuries.

 

“Are you sure you’re okay Neku? Don’t use up too much energy” Shiki said worried

 

He then stopped walking and looked back at her smiling

 

“Yeah, thanks Shiki, but I’m fine don’t worry.”

 

Shiki then smiled and said how she was glad he was feeling better and they continued walking. They eventually reached the incline from earlier making Neku a little nervous knowing how easy it is to trip here due to how the hill has a very steep incline, (similar to the first dive that a roller coaster does before starting the actual course it takes)

 

Sensing his nervousness she then sees Neku hang his head

 

“You okay?” Shiki said sadly

 

“This is…where I was almost killed during the Game…on the first day when those Taboo wolf Noise attacked me.” he said weakly

 

“Yusuke…” he said softly

 

“He was there for me, he protected me…they all did and yet…

 

Shiki then held his right hand and squeezed it

 

“Neku let it go…that wasn’t your fault. All they were trying to do is survive, I…I still can’t get over what they did to me but…that’s in the past Neku, just enjoy the moment right?” Shiki said sweetly

 

He then lifted his head and smiled at her

 

“yeah” he said softly

 

They then discussed how they would over come such a steep slope giving Shiki an idea.

 

She then dropped Mr. Mew allowing the toy to spring to life and land on its feet.

 

“You ready Mr. Mew?” she asked smiling

 

The toy nodded its head and became its panther form, Shiki then got on him and looked back at Neku who smiled at her and hopped on the panther. Panther Mr. Mew then ran down the slope at intense speeds as it followed Neku’s directions.

 

“Keep going straight piggy, it’ll be to your left.” Neku exclaimed causing the panther to turn its head towards him

 

Shiki then turned her head towards him and gave him her usual remark

 

“Neku…seriously…he’s a cat…I think you might need to get your eyes checked…er…use your mind to improve your vision.” Shiki said teasingly

 

“Har har and this is coming from a girl who’s near-sighted” Neku said also teasingly

 

“Well at least I can distinguish the difference between a cat and a pig…seriously Neku that’s like…kindergarden stuff, you know when they teach you what animals look like.” Shiki said smiling smugly causing Neku to scratch his head bashfully

 

The two friends then laughed and the panther eventually stopped running and walked towards the left. It then stopped allowing Neku and Shiki to get off of it before turning back into a piggy

 

“So is this it?” Shiki exclaimed standing in front of a cave

 

“Yeah…I remember hiding in here as I tried to heal myself from Kyoku attacking me.” Neku said smiling

 

They then walked inside the cave happy to know that no one was inside it.

 

Shiki then imagined some logs and Neku placed his energy in it making a sort of campfire with his energy making everything have a blue tint to it.

 

They then both sat down and talked about how they were glad that they had survived again.

 

Eventually after talking a bit more they decided to get some rest generating little sleeping bags for them to sleep in having them be a feet from each other to keep an eye on each other just incase a Player might try to cheat and ambush them.

 

“You know I can’t help but wonder if this is what an actual camping trip is like” Shiki said with her eyes closed with her back facing Neku

 

Neku then yawned and closed his eyes

 

“yeah same here” he said sleepily

 

They then said goodnight and tried to sleep (even though the don’t need it, they knew it would help speed up the Game by sleeping the night away)

 

The sun then rised and Neku and Shiki opened their eyes to see little rays of light shining into the cave and that Neku’s energy had fizzled out over time. They started to walk outside of the cave and walked around the forest heading towards their usual spot.

 

“Hey Neku have you noticed how quiet everything is?” Shiki said remarking on how nothing was happening

 

“Yeah it’s almost…peaceful. I guess the break lasts the whole day too. That’s pretty sweet.” Neku said smiling

 

“It sure is, for once we can just walk around here and not worry about being shot at by Hunters.” Shiki said smiling

 

They finally started to head for their usual spot and felt uneasy seeing a human form begin to walk towards them making Neku and Shiki gasp feeling afraid making them start to back away from the human form. It was a woman wearing a sleeveless purple dress and black slippers with redish pink hair and light blue eyes. She smiled at them as she walked towards them, seeing that smile just made Neku more nervous.

 

“Shiki” he whispered “if she tries anything I want you to head back to the cave I showed you yesterday.”

 

“What?! I’m not gonna let you take her on! Not on your own like this, it’s too risky!” Shiki said also whispering

 

Sensing their fear the woman merely giggled due to their misunderstanding of the situation

 

“There’s no need to be so tense, loosen up. I’m not going to hurt you two.” she said kindly

 

“Rrrgh! Don’t try to fool us with that crap! The only people that have human forms here are Angels, you’re a hunter aren’t you?” Neku roared in his fighting pose

 

“heh, such rude behavior…I’m trying to be nice to you two and you’re making that difficult” she exclaimed

 

“I’m Mika Yamamoto. I’m here to merely congratulate you Neku Sakuraba.” Mika said smiling

 

He then felt even more nervous making him gasp when she said his name

 

“H-How do you know my name?! and…congratulate me? What’re you talking about?” he said weakly

 

“I know your name because I’ve been watching you Neku…we all have. After all how else would we know how many Hunters you’ve killed. You killed so many of them that you scored many points, then again you are a boy with very strong imagination, that’s to be expected from a spirit as strong as you. So congratulations Neku Sakuraba, you are exempt from the Game today. You are today’s Untouchable Player.” the mysterious woman said smiling

 

“What?!” Neku said in his shocked pose

 

“But then…what about Shiki?! I can’t leave her! Not like this!” Neku said shaking his fist angrily

 

“Don’t worry she’s on break today, all Players and Hunters are. She’ll be fine.” Akemi said reassuringly

 

“Now come with me.” she said holding her hand out to him

 

Neku then looked behind him to look back at Shiki

 

“Don’t worry Neku I’ll be okay” she said sweetly

 

He then nodded his head and looked back at Mika and took her hand. She then walked with Neku away from the forest into the empty white space that was the playing field. Akemi then let’s go of Neku’s hand and walks beside him leading him to the hotel all the Hunters inhabited

 

“An entire building filled with Hunters…great…but at least Sanae’s there” Neku thought

 

They both walked inside the hotel to see the twenty one Angels inside all walking around the hotel in their human forms. Some of them also were in the dinning room, it all had such an elegant feeling to it, that Neku felt like he was visiting some rich person’s house, like a mansion rather then going into a hotel.

 

The walls had a pearl color to them and the floor was made of silver colored glass, something that couldn’t help but make Neku nervous since he’s slammed his body onto glass floors before. He also saw there were stairs that were bronze colored and a hallway that led to the dining hall.

 

Akemi then led Neku up the stairs and led him to a room numbered 241 the hotel room specifically for Untouchable Players. She then opened the door and led Neku inside.

 

“this is where you’ll stay for the rest of the day you’re exempt from. You may explore the hotel as much as you wish, however you can’t leave this place until the next day comes understand?” she said sweetly

 

“Yeah I do…um…thanks” Neku said smiling a little trying to hide how uneasy he felt

 

“There’s something else you need to know Neku, since not every Angel here knows you this will be their first impression of you. So it’s because of this while you’re here, you should change into more elegant clothing. You’ll blend in more and not seem so out of place here, doing so will make it easier for Hunters to be around you since it’ll seem more like you belong here.” Mika added

 

“huh? But…why should I change the way I look to earn someone else’s approval? I wear what I want to wear. I’m not gonna change who I am just because I’m in this Game.” Neku said crossing his arms.

 

Mika then wore a sly smile and then snapped her fingers giving off a little bit of her presence to Neku, affecting him mentally.

 

Neku then felt extremely nervous and unsure of her, he was afraid of Mika similar to the uncertainty he’d feel around Joshua in the UG.

 

“She’s…why do I feel like this? I can’t be near her…I…I gotta get away somehow. There’s something shady about her…like the way Joshua was in the Reapers’ Game.” Neku thought afraid

 

He then hid his face in his collar and hid his hands in his pockets

 

“I gotta calm down…I…dammit I feel…chills going down my spine…

 

Neku then gulped feeling extremely unsafe around her

 

“She’s not an Angel…Angel’s don’t feel so…so insane like…I’m in danger around her…this presence…it’s just like Joshua. She’s…a Composer?!” he thought nervously

 

She then snapped her fingers again giving Neku a sharp jolt to his head

 

“Nngh! What did you do to me?!” Neku screamed squeezing his hair

 

He then begins to pant from the pain as she walked closer to him making her presence stronger to the point his legs began to tremble making him fall to his knees.

 

She then sat on her knees and squeezed the back of Neku’s head pulling him closer to him.

 

“Now, you listen and you listen good Neku Sakuraba. I suggest you watch what you say to people, as you can see now, not all of the human forms here are Angels…I am a Judge, a Composer who gives your score to determine whether or not you’ve won the day, and I can easily lower that score again to kick you out of here. I can also make this Game even harder for you by tightening your little Seal making it even harder for you to imagine things Neku…

 

She then squeezed his hair even tighter making Neku whimper in pain both from his headache and his hair being squeezed

 

“So I suggest you do as you’re told Neku and--

 

Before she could finish her sentence someone intervened

 

“Hey! Stop it! That’s enough! You know you’re not allowed to mess with him like that.” a male voice called out

 

She then lets go of Neku and turns around, closing her eyes and then opening them to remove her presence on Neku, making him lower his hands causing them to slam onto the floor to give him support as he panted out of breath.

 

“Oh come on Sanae I wasn’t doing anything wrong.” Mika said innocently

 

“Oh really now? From what I saw you were hurting that Player with your energy, something that’s not allowed. He’s an untouchable Player, even from you.” Mr. H said sternly

 

“Is that any way to talk to someone with a higher position?” she said slyly

 

“No, but rankings in the Angels' Game aside, you know what could do to you if you attempted to harm him right?” Mr. H said with his hand behind his neck with a little smile

 

“Yes I know Sanae, especially since you’re the most powerful Angel here right now.” she said annoyed

 

He then placed his hand back down and spoke to her sternly

 

“Good, then move along now. You’re job’s done”

 

She then walked away from him and headed out the door but looked back at him before leaving

 

“You know Sanae, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you’ve grown attached to that boy. This isn’t you just fulfilling your duties as a Guardian is it? It’s become personal, and having attachment is never a good thing you know, other than your friendship with Joshua of course. It interferes with your job as a Hunter and as a soldier in general…I saw your hesitation to kill him.” she said darkly before leaving the room shutting the door behind her

 

He then walked over to Neku who looked up with weak tired eyes.

 

“Mr. H…why did you do that? I…I thought you…

 

He then began to pant again from feeling so weak

 

“Here let me heal ya Phones.” Mr. H said worried

 

He then placed his hands on Neku’s shoulders and closed his eyes generating his white healing energy, after fully healing Neku he opened his eyes smiling at his friend. Neku then opened his eyes smiling at Mr. H too

 

Mr. H then lets go of him and backs up so Neku has room to stand up

 

“thanks Mr. H” Neku said looking at his Guardian friend

 

“heh heh, don’t mention it Phones. Now as for your question earlier, I technically didn’t break any rules see. I’m not allowed to help you in the Game even once but, as of right now you’re exempt from playing it see? So that means I technically can help ya if you need it.” Mr. H said with his hand behind his neck smiling

 

“Really? You sure you won’t get in trouble?” Neku said concerned

 

“yeah I’m sure kiddo. So anyways what she said earlier is true though, I know you like to wear your own stuff Phones but…think of this as sorta like the Reapers’ Game. Back then you had to wear clothes you may have not necessarily liked, but in the end, it helped you beat little side missions from the Supporter Reapers and fight the Noise.” he added

 

“This is sort of the same thing…you gotta wear somethin’ snazzy so you sort of fit in with this environment more, and no I’m not saying that you need to conform and look the way we want you too, but for your own safety Phones, you need to blend in.” Mr. H said sternly

 

Neku then crossed his arms and thought about what Mr. H just told him

 

“I get it…it’s sorta like how a chameleon changes color to blend in with its environment, to protect itself from predators...a camouflage” Neku said with his left hand facing upward

 

He then hid his face in his funnel collar and his hands in his pockets

 

“'cause right now…

 

Neku then became extremely pale

 

“I’m surrounded by predators ready to…attack their prey…me.” he said weakly

 

Mr. H sensing Neku’s fear placed his hand on Neku’s left shoulder.

 

“It’s alright Phones…as long as you’re here they can’t lay a finger on you. You’re safe kiddo. But just for the record…don’t get nervous like this when you leave your room and explore the hotel a bit. Even if you're safe, the moment you expose yourself is when you give the Hunters an advantage on playing field. If necessary, they may try to make you feel scared Phones. Don’t give them that chance” Mr. H said sternly

 

He then looked up at Mr. H and color returned to his face and he smiled at his Guardian friend again

 

“thanks” he said weakly

 

Mr. H then patted Neku’s head

 

“you’re welcome sport.” Mr. H said smiling

 

“Now then as for what I’ll wear…

 

Neku said crossing his arms

 

“Maybe...I can wear this” he said snapping his fingers

 

Neku then wore the same clothes he created to distance himself from when he was a Demon Lord

 

“heh heh, nice get up Phones” Mr. H said feeling flattered

 

Neku then scratched his head feeling bashful

 

“Well, I made this when I was trying to imagine some new clothes…you know, to distance myself from when I was a Demon Lord and the next thing I knew I made this” he said shyly

 

“Ha ha, nice one kiddo. I guess I should be happy that that helped you think of me” Mr. H said scratching his neck feeling a little shy too

 

They both noticed the awkwardness of the moment and laughed

 

Mr. H then told Neku he’d be in his room if he needed his help and that, for the sake of not showing favoritism to stick to calling him Mr. H unless just he and Neku are together

 

“Yeah...I wouldn't want the other Angel getting you in trouble or something" Neku said clasping his right shoulder

 

"So what’s the room number?” he asked

 

“238” Mr. H replied

 

“I’ll be there so feel free to stop by Phones if you ever need something” Mr. H said smiling

 

“Will do, and thanks for helping me out back there…I still can’t believe she’s a Composer.” Neku said smiling

 

“and a stubborn one at that. She’s quick to anger…something you sadly learned the hard way.” Mr. H said chuckling

 

He then waved goodbye and walked out of the room shutting the door behind him.

 

Neku then lets out a sigh of relief and lays on the bed in his room while noticing that he had a flat screen TV on the wall of the room. He then pressed his feet against each other and removed his shoes. Something he would’ve done the moment he entered the hotel out of a habit.

 

“I’m finally…safe” he thought

 

He then looked next to him expecting to see some sort of night table with a TV remote or something but nothing was there

 

He then looked at the TV and snapped his fingers causing it to turn on

 

“Heh sweet” he said smiling

 

He then saw that his TV was showing the Game and saw that Shiki had begun sewing to keep herself busy.

 

“Hm? She’s sewing some sort of shirt for me, kind of like the one I usually wear” he said in his head

 

he noticed the shirt she was sewing was like his usual shirt but without the funnel collar, instead it only had a V-neck split on the shirt and then notices that behind her was his shorts but light gray with purple stripes on each side, less baggy, and has no pockets and he sees Shiki had made black leggings that would go slightly past his knees. As he focused on the tv, Neku began to pick up on her thoughts (something that only he could do from watching the TV)

 

“I hope Neku’s okay…when the Game starts up again, he’ll need clothes that are more suited for running. I wonder if I should make him a hoodie? it can keep him warm if he starts to get chilly. If he gets really cold then he can just wear that coat I made him” she thought happily

 

Neku then couldn’t help but smile

 

“heh, you’re always looking out for me, huh Shiki? You don’t need to make me running clothes…you should think about yourself too once in a while” Neku said happily

 

“ugh…I’m so bored…there’s nothing to do” she thought

 

“But the least I can do is enjoy my break” Shiki said out loud

 

She then began to walk around the forest trying to memorize the path that lead to the cave she and Neku were in. after finding the cave and her way back to their usual spot Neku wore a smug smile happy to see Shiki remembering what he said before

 

Neku then decided to explore the hotel a bit.

 

“I guess I should put my shoes on again so she doesn’t mad at me” Neku thought

 

He placed his black shoes with indigo lightning bolts with gold stripes on and walked out of his room. The hotel is massive and he found the hallway that led to the dining room noting that there was another one to his left.

 

Feeling curious Neku went down the left hallway and saw that it had led to a room with a dark gray marble floor with a gold outline and silver walls with a light blue tint to them.

 

He saw that the walls of the room shimmered, sparkling as if it was made from crystals with a few stain glass windows showing past Angels who played as Hunters as well as them having a torch with lightblue fire with the center being white by each of them. as he looked at the images, one of the Stain glass windows caught his attention.

 

Neku then walked up to it seeing it with a lightblue color matching the flames, as well as having the Player Pin skull on the image and scythes at the bottom of it. upon taking a closer look at the Angel, it made Neku nearly sick to his stomach with anxiety.

 

"J-Joshua?" he said quietly "He was a Hunter too?"

 

he then hanged his head and hid his eyes in his bangs

 

"N-no that can't be it" he thought "Joshua is the Composer, a Death God and he became that way by playing the Game in the UG. This has to just...be someone who looks like him. Not that that makes it any better...seeing an Angel...a Hunter try to kill me, that looks like Joshua...I don't know if I could handle that. It's already uncomfortable knowing Mr. Hanekoma's a Hunter."

 

Neku then closed his eyes and took a deep breath controlling how the mere thought of a Joshua look-a-like killing Spirits made him nervous. He looked to the left to see pictures of Angels in their human form hanging above a title written in English:

 

“Top Ranking Hunters?” Neku read aloud

 

He then looked to his left and saw another row of Angels in their human form with something written beneath the pictures.

 

“Most Frequent kills” Neku read again feeling nervous

 

He then saw another hallway and down it seeing that it was lit by torches with Angel energy. Neku felt extremely nervous getting an urge to turn back but he also felt like he needed to see what was on the other side of the hallway. Almost like he was drawn towards it, like a magnet. As he walked within the hall, he saw that there were torches near both sides of it in white Angel energy

 

He then reached the end of the hallway and felt a crunching feeling in his stomach

 

He saw another picture hanging in the room, but this one was silver with a white marble floor with a diamond pattern on it that had each diamond colored light gray

 

“Most powerful Hunter and slaughtered most Players…

 

Neku then hanged his head with his hands in his pockets

 

“Sanae Hanekoma” he said weakly

 

“I should get out of here” he thought

 

He then began to walk out of the room when he felt himself bump into something

 

“Nngh…a wall?” he said out loud

 

Anthony then smiled at Izawa deciding now would be a good time to give Neku a little message…but not through himself, but rather through someone he knows but first, he needed to scare Neku and knew just the person for the job.

 

“it seems you’re stuck here” a voice said causing Neku to instantly turn around

 

“No…you again?!” Neku said shocked

 

“But…you’re just an illusion! I know you’re not really here!” Neku roared shaking his fist

 

Clarissa then instantly teleported herself to Neku and chocked him squeezing his neck.

 

“Be that as it may, I’m just as strong as the real Clarissa. You know it’s really interesting…your Angel energy inside you makes you stronger than Joshua right now.” she said slyly

 

Neku then began to wheeze

 

“But right now, you’re just as helpless as the day we first met.” she said softly to him

 

She then threw Neku away from her and teleported herself to him and hugged him

 

“S-Stop it!” Neku whimpered

 

She then placed her head on Neku’s right shoulder

 

“Now why would I want to do that?” she said teasingly

 

She then slid her right hand up Neku’s back and slid her hand into his hair messing with his ear

 

“You know I’ve really missed you” Clarissa said with the warmth of her breath going down his neck making Neku’s eyes water

 

His breath became extremely choppy and he began to pant and felt his seal burn from it beginning to break again going past the extra locks on it and headed towards the core of the seal

 

“Don’t her mess with me!” Neku screamed in his head

 

He then generated the instant kill shot in his right hand causing her to look at his hand in shock

 

She then lets go of him looking at him terrified.

 

“That technique…that was invented by…I see. It seems you really have gotten stronger since the first time we met.” Clarissa said trying to hide how she felt nervous

 

“Yeah…and based off of what you just said, you know what this does to people when it makes direct contact right?” Neku said darkly

 

Clarissa then smiled and began to walk towards him getting her confidence back

 

“Of course I do, so let me guess… you’re going to use that against me right and destroy the illusion?” she said slyly

 

Before Neku could shoot her, in the blink of an eye, she teleported in front of his face, pressed her left hand on his shoulder, and squeezed Neku’s right arm smashing him against a wall causing the energy to dissolve. She then smiled and lowered her left hand back to his neck to choke him again

 

“And yet even with this new power, you’re still too weak Neku. That’s why demons love to hunt you, they know how breakable you are, how frail and thin you are.” she said softly at his ear

 

Beat became infuriated as he watched Neku suffer. His hands trembled as they were clenched into fists on his lap, Taki was also filled with hate snarling at Clarissa from the portal, noticing this Rhyme tells him to stop so he doesn’t blow his cover. He took a deep breath and calmed down.

 

“Neku fight back!” Taki screamed in his head

 

Clarissa began to squeeze his neck and arm even tighter making Neku whimper in pain.

 

“Stop” he whimpered

 

“I’m sorry Neku, what was that?” Clarissa said smiling

 

“I've got this!” Neku thought again as he focused his energy

 

He then took a deep breath and released it opening his eyes revealing his irises to be darkblue and his energy surrounded his body again like fire with streams of lightning around him.

 

“ENOOOOUGH!” he shouted sending Clarissa flying from a blast of sound

 

He then placed his left hand on his head amplifying his mind and held out his right hand creating a fiery orb in his hand with streams of lightning around it. He then extended out his fingers increasing the size of the orb to that of a bowling ball and launched it at Clarissa who was still flying.

 

The orb made contact causing her to go rolling onto the ground and the moment she got up she saw that an instant kill shot flew at her giving her no time to react and dissolved into black orbs.

 

His energy surge dissolved and Neku nearly passed out using his left arm for support panting from how exhausted he was. He then lets go of his arm and placed his hands on his head as he concentrated but doing so made his legs give out causing him to fall to his knees. Still panting out of breath he then thought about feeling better

 

“I don’t want to feel tired or weak, I want to feel better, to feel like myself again.” he thought

 

The moment he opened his eyes Neku was able to get to his feet

 

“Even when I can’t see him CAT is always there, after all…he’s the one that taught me how to heal myself with my mind.” Neku thought happily

 

He then ran towards the end of the hallway but held his hand out and was relieved to no longer feel a wall there. He passed all the other rooms of famous Hunters and headed towards the bronze stairs and walked back to his room and laid on his bed. Still feeling a little tired he just pushed his feet against each other to slip off of his shoes and closed his eyes.

 

“Finally…I’m safe again” Neku thought

 

“You know better than to think something so foolish” Anthony said mentally

 

“NO!” Neku shouted instantly opening his from the sound of Anthony’s voice

 

He then felt his right shoulder begin to sting him

 

“Nngh…stop! Don’t break it any further!” Neku screamed out loud “if you do it’ll--

 

“exactly” Anthony replied cutting him off

 

The seal began to get even more cracks in it to the point that his extra lock began to break away, something that made the Higher Ups very disturbed.

 

“Should Sanae be allowed to intervene and make this stop? After all Genyu is proving to be more of a problem than we even realized. Demons usually don't interfere with the Angels' Game like this” Amonae said telepathically

 

“No…if this little Fledgling is to achieve God Status he will have to do so on his own terms, his own strength. His friends would only be able to help him so much” Aiden replied mentally

 

Anthony, knowing that Mr. H would help Neku no matter what snapped his fingers placing a soundproof barrier around Neku’s hotel room and began to manipulate his demon energy making it leak out its weakest form, Red Demon energy due to how the extra locks made it harder for him to get full access to the energy.

 

Neku was then surrounded by a red aura and felt his eyes become heavy and his eyes became red as a result of the energy starting to consume him.

 

"this hurts...it feels like my body's burning, kind of like a sun burn but hotter. Maybe I should shut my eyes for a while"

 

“No! Neku! Shiki gave you control over that energy!” Eri shouted remarking on his red eyes

 

“Please…you need to fight back Neku” she said weakly

 

The stinging in his shoulder stopped and laid his hands by his side.

 

“You know that I can kill you right now don’t you?” Anthony said slyly

 

Neku then felt his eyes widen as he was thrust forward slouching and felt his left arm begin to move growing demon claws and had his hand aimed towards his back

 

Neku squinted and whimpered in pain as he felt the energy burn him he then felt his hand lower causing him to open his eyes terrified

 

“Stop!” Neku screamed

 

“Nngh! I don't care what crap you try to pull, I'm not letting you kill me!” he shouted

 

He then felt his claws land on his back

 

“DON’T!” Neku screamed desperately

 

He then closed his eyes

 

“I can control this! It’s RED Demon energy! That’s its weakest form of energy! I’ve got this! I can’t Fade away like this…Rhyme…she thinks I’m gonna make it…I want what she made for me to become real!” he yelled in his head

 

Neku then opened his eyes making his friends smile as they became blue-gray eyes again. He then closed his eyes again and felt his demon claws become fingernails and placed his left hand back down to his side and the red aura faded away.

 

“Very impressive Neku…but don’t kid yourself. You know the only reason you were able to do this is because of how weak red demon energy is. I’ll be looking forward to you making more progress Neku. It’ll make it all the sweeter when I deliver that final blow, and make it all the more painful for Shiki to watch you go crashing down.” Anthony said mentally

 

 

"I fought back my demon energy before, so I know I can do it again!" Neku thought back

 

He then looked at Izawa and snapped his fingers making another Demon Neku knows appear to him as an illusion. The moment the illusion began to form with it starting as black smoke,the moment he looked at it, Neku felt an intense pain in his head from all his memories of this person crashing into his mind at once.

 

“Nnnnngh! NO! he can’t be here! It’s just not possible because that's ME!” Neku screamed while squeezing his hair

 

The black plume of smoke began to take shape and the moment it revealed the illusion, Beat and Rhyme became extremely pale.

 

“No…Phones it's…I don’t get yo! We SAVED Phones from bein’ this again!” Beat shouted

 

Neku then opened his eyes from feeling the pain stop. The moment his eyes met with who was in the room his eyes widened with fear.

 

“Damien?...Me?” Neku said weakly

 

“W-What’re you doing here?” Neku asked nervously

 

His former self, smiled his devious little smile at Neku

 

“Oh come now, is that any way to greet someone?” Damien said slyly

 

“But there’s no need for alarm, I’m merely here to talk to you” his demon-self said with his hands in his pockets

 

“You see” Damien continued smiling at Neku’s confusion “I’m here to tell you that if you survive the Game many new things will happen as a result of Anthony’s determination to stop you from becoming the highest ranking of all and becoming God.”

 

“Yeah, I know…he’s gonna try to kill me the moment he gets that chance” Neku said getting up from his bed

 

“Well then I’d like to ask you something Neku.” Damien said smiling

 

“Like what?” Neku said defensively

 

“Why is it that you’re so nervous around Demons and yet you call upon the energy when you feel like you’re in danger?” the former Demon Lord said curiously

 

“What?! I'm not nervous around them and I…I don’t do that! I've used Angel Energy to fight back too! I--

 

“Oh really? Don’t bother denying it Neku you know you need this energy don’t you?” Damien said walking towards Neku causing him to back away from his demonic self

 

“I…I don’t need it! I just--

 

“then why do you use that energy the most Neku?” Damien asked cutting him off

 

“You have Angel and Composer energy within you and yet you call upon the powers of a full demon when you‘re in trouble…you call out to me Neku.” he said slyly

 

Neku then hanged his head knowing that to be true

 

“You know that don’t you Neku? Deep down you know that the energy empowers you…

 

He then began to walk closer to Neku making them one foot away from each other

 

“Deep down inside you, you know that I’m right. You like having the energy empower you, why else would you not ever try to defy Clarissa when she was in control of you?” Damien said smiling a huge gin revealing all of his shark teeth

 

Neku then looked up and crossed his arms

 

"Screw you. You think I don't know what you're up to?! You're not even really here! You're just something Anthony made to mess with me!"

 

Damien then chuckled and placed his left hand on his tie and right hand in his pocket

 

"Heh, even so...you know what I'm saying is true. Deep down you know it. You craved that power, you wanted it. That's why you wanted Clarissa's energy, and you wanted her to take over you. YOU allowed that to happen." he said with an evil smile

 

he then had a more relaxed look smiling without his teeth and his hands in his back pockets while Neku clenched onto his right shoulder

 

"Yeah, what you're saying is true. I really did want Clarissa's power, but--" Neku admitted

 

he then lets go of his right shoulder and shook his fist angrily at the thought of becoming the Demon Lord again

 

 

"that's because she MADE ME think that way, and I thought she was keeping me safe!" he screamed

 

 

Damien then chuckled again

 

 

"Even if that's true, you loved it and I know you did because even if I'm an illusion, being an exact copy of you when you were the Demon Lord, I can sense what you're feeling and you know that it's true"

 

Neku then hanged his head again in silence knowing that the illusion was right, that he actually liked it when Clarissa was controlling him

 

“remember how unstoppable we were? How we could kill anyone in our way? Don’t you want that back? You wouldn’t have to live in fear anymore. Allow me to take that fear away Neku…if you let me take control I can kill Anthony.”

 

Hearing him say that made Neku gasp and look at Damien in shock

 

“But I don't live in fear, I just...worry about the outcome, that's the issue I have. That power...that's something I remember and you…You could really do that?” Neku said weakly

 

“NO!” Beat yelled at the portal

 

“PHONES! NEKU! DON’T FALL FOR IT MAN! WHAT YOU SEEIN’ AIN’T REAL YO! YOU AIN’T GOT SOME PHYSICAL VERSION OF YA DEMON ENERGY YO! YOU GOTTA SNAP OUTTA IT MAN!”

 

“Of course although I am an illusion, I’m still just as powerful as the real Damien or rather, YOU when you were a Demon Lord. On top of that, my Virtuoso form is much more powerful then the watered down Demon energy you have, it’s nearly on par with Anthony.” he said slyly

 

 

“You're weak without this energy Neku…you need it.” Damien insisted

 

“Why else would you use it more than even your own energy often times?”

 

“it’s…it’s because I…it’s true that I use it a lot but…that’s because I’m used to demon energy by now. I’ve had it inside me since when I first got to the Higher Plane. I got Angel energy shortly after but…I haven’t been able to use my Angel form that much because I haven't been able to practice with it, and it’s weaker…than you guys.” Neku said weakly hanging his head again

 

“Exactly so…just think about this Neku…how in a way you’re more Demon-like than Angel-like.” Daimen said slyly

 

He then began to walk away causing Neku to look up at him

 

“Hey wait!” Neku yelled holding out his right hand

 

But the illusion then became black smoke unaware that the smoke amplieified Neku's concerns and made him doubt himself, disappearing from him

 

Neku then felt his hands ball up into fists and felt them tremble from rage and squeezed his hair

 

“Rrrgh! Just what the hell did he mean by that?! I…I’m not a monster like him! I wouldn’t kill people unless I had to, like I had to to survive the Reapers’ Game and past Angels’ Game! But STILL! He has a point, even if none of that was real and just an illusion! Even if that was just Anthony messing with me! I…I’m not strong enough on my own! I can’t kill Anthony! Even with my Angel energy, I haven't been able to use it like I've been wanting too and Joshua and Mr. H can’t so….Rrrrrrgh! Dammit! What the hell can I do?! I can’t let go of them but if I don’t, then I’m screwed!” Neku screamed enraged

 

 

To be continued…


	6. Overwhelmed

Filled with anger and self doubt Neku felt himself drop to the floor and just squeeze his hair even tighter at the thought of letting go of all of his friends feeling like he may have to do it just to kill Anthony in the long run. Sensing Neku’s doubt he then decided to let Mr. H get involved knowing already what he would do if Neku survived the Game. He then snapped his fingers making the sound proof barrier go away in addition to also letting Mr. H feel Neku’s presence again.

 

He was in his hotel room working on another sketch for CAT and sipped his coffee when he suddenly felt a massive sense of heaviness fall upon him. He was filled with a deep sense of sorrow to the point it made his human form’s eyes water. Mr. H then took a deep breath and wiped his tears away

 

“Phones? Why does he feel this hurt? Thankfully he’s nowhere near as bad as when he was about to give up on himself and blast energy into his chest…but this heaviness he feels…it’s really close to that feeling of giving up. I gotta prevent him from getting like that again.” the Guardian thought

 

He then got up from his chair and headed towards Neku’s hotel room and began to pick up on Neku's thoughts.

 

“Beat…” Neku thought getting Beat’s attention

 

“If only I was as strong as you, then maybe I wouldn’t be in this mess. I always have to rely on my mind and energy, but you…being the freaking rhino…you can just beat the crap out of someone with your own strength…YOUR strength alone, not relying on your mind like me.”

 

He then spoke the next part out loud almost like he wished Beat could answer him

 

“You’d be perfect for this version of the Angels’ Game, you don’t have to think! You just dive head first into any situation, no matter what happens! Even if something goes wrong you just find a way out of it! You don’t need to think, you don’t need to plan anything! You just go for it!” Neku shouted

 

“You're just so strong and powerful…back when Anthony took over your mind…back when you attacked me, that was YOUR strength! That was YOU doing that to me, all he did was just make you go insane Beat. You’re really that strong." he added while feeling frustrated

 

 

"Sometimes...I wish I was strong like you, then maybe this Game would be easier. I'm just scrawny, fragile and breakable. I know when you tell me that you're just joking with me, but it's true. I've never cared about being physically fit or into sports, but now...it feels like I've screwed myself over because of it. I'm so fragile and tiny compared to you, hurting me, is like breaking a toothpick for you. I...I'm just...weak ” Neku said sadly

 

"Yo don't talk like that man. You ain't weak. You never were Neku" Beat said hurt from seeing Neku this way

 

 

when he finally got there he then reached out to Neku telepathically

 

“Phones what’s wrong? You don’t mind if I come in here to check up on ya do you?” Mr. H asked

 

“No…I don’t mind” Neku said mentally

 

Mr. H then opened the door to see Neku on the floor squeezing his hair, something that made Mr. H feel sad, hating to see Neku in such a state of helplessness. He then walked up to Neku and sat down beside him

 

“C’mon now don’t tell me you forgot what I told you about doing this to yourself right?” Mr. H said worried

 

He then placed his hands on Neku’s hands and pulled them away from his head causing Neku to look up at his Guardian friend

 

“I told you not to hurt your head like this kiddo. Hurting your body won’t make that pain go away.” Mr. H said sternly

 

“What happened Phones? You seemed fine the last time I saw you.” he added

 

“You mean you didn’t sense it?” Neku said hurt

 

“Anthony…he…he must’ve set up a barrier so you couldn’t reach me.” he said sadly

 

“That would explain why I didn’t feel anything until just now” Mr. H said scratching his head feeling a little guilty

 

Neku then explained everything that happened to him causing Mr. H to feel even more guilty

 

“I’m so sorry, if I had just known what was going on I would’ve never let those illusions hurt you.” Mr. H said still trying to be happy for Neku’s sake

 

“So do you think what Damien...that illusion of the other me said is true?” Neku said hanging his head

 

“look in your pockets Phones” Mr. H replied

 

“Huh?” Neku said confused

 

“Go on, pull out what‘s inside there” Mr. H insisted

 

Neku then shoved his right hand in his pocket

 

And pulled out the graffiti Rhyme made for Neku

 

“Now you tell me, do you really think what he said is true?” Mr. H said smiling

 

Neku then gazed at the picture Rhyme made and smiled a little

 

“No…even if I tend to use Demon energy a lot….that doesn’t mean that I’m like them. I’ve got friends now…they’re all waiting for me to get this Game over with, even Shiki’s waiting for me to come back.” Neku said weakly

 

“even if I’ve had thoughts of wanting to take out my anger on others, like when Joshua use to drive me crazy in the Reapers’ Game…still, that doesn’t mean I’m a monster like them…that I’d want to kill someone. I only rely on demon energy because my Angel energy is still pretty new to me, thanks to all of this crap happening to me, I've only been able to use it a few times, and it isn’t strong enough to kill them. Even if my Angel form is stronger than you, I don't have your experience…my demon form is the only one that gives me more of a fighting chance against them.” he added

 

Mr. H then rubbed Neku’s head smiling at him

 

“There you go Phones! I knew you’d find a way out! and although what you said is true, it's like what I told you before, to focus on the Angel Energy, not the Demon energy. You used it to fight back against Beat and Joshua under Anthony's control, and even activated your Angel form in its True Power state all on your own! When this is all over, I want to help you get that control over your Angel energy and by doing that, you can get more comfortable with it.” Mr. H said happily

 

"Thanks, Mr. H" Neku said sincerely

 

"heh, anytime Phones" Mr. H said glad Neku was feeling better

 

He then stood up causing Neku to do the same, he then saw Neku place the picture Rhyme made on his bed and did his usual focusing pose making a thin white picture frame and caused it to levitate towards the right of his bed and stick to the wall. Neku then opened his eyes and held his hand out towards it causing Rhyme’s picture to go inside it making it a perfect fit.

 

Mr. H then nodded his head in approval

 

“Nice use of contrast” Mr. H said remarking on how Neku used a white picture frame to make it stand out more against the black background of the picture

 

“Heh heh, thanks” Neku said smiling at Mr. H

 

Mr. H then turned over to Neku and became more stern

 

“You remember what Joshua said about this Game right?” Mr. H said becoming more serious causing Neku to do the same

 

“Yeah, that I had to improve my endurance or else I’d get myself killed” Neku said clasping his shoulder

 

“Exactly and you’re getting there with each passing day, the fact that you were exhausted and still found a way to protect Shiki proves that. The Phones I knew when he first came here to the Higher Plane would’ve passed out at the instant.” Mr. H said scratching his neck smiling

 

“Really? Mr. H you…you really mean that?” Neku said shocked

 

“Hey why do you look so surprised? Heh, you really gotta start giving yourself more credit. You’re a tough kid. What you lack in muscle, like with that Freaking Rhino, as you nicknamed him, you make up for it with powerful attacks, speed and now even better endurance, all thanks to your mind. You always had that in the Reapers' Game, always pushing yourself whenever you fought against powerful Noise and Reapers. Even when you'd almost get killed by them, you'd still hang in there." The wise Angel said smiling

 

"You've always had that, but now it's improved, it's getting even stronger. You’re getting there I know it. Just push yourself a little farther.” Mr. H said happily

 

Neku's smile then vanished and then hanged his head and hid his hands in his pockets as one of his worries creeped into his mind

 

“But Mr. H…you’ve seen how strong the Hunters are…that chamber I was in remember? It had all the most famous Hunters there…with you being the one I fought Clarissa in. Those Angels are the best of the best right? So…what if they go full vibe frequency and I can’t handle it? I…I’m just a human soul, even if my whole body right down to my transparent skin is energy, still…it’s not enough. I’m still at risk of Fading away.” Neku said sadly

 

Mr. H then scratched his neck with his left hand thinking of what to say next feeling sad from Neku doubting himself he then lowered his hand and finally knew what to say

 

“Listen up Phones, cause you said it yourself. The world doesn’t end with you, it begins with you. The moment you push out your horizons as far as they’ll go, the moment you understand things you couldn’t, and feel things you couldn’t, you’re able to see the world through a new perspective. In the Underground you clashed meeting people with different values than you, different ways of living than you and yet, that’s what helped you open up your world.” Mr. H said sternly

 

Neku then raised his head and looked at his wise Angelic friend

 

“Only when we clash do we truly understand each other and accept each other. You clashed with Shiki seeing how you two were very different from each other, yet also shared sadness with each other, even if that sadness was triggered in different ways. Those differences made you two clash, making you able to understand her and accept her and the same thing goes for Beat and Joshua. You’ve pushed out your horizons before, so I know you can do it again Phones.” Mr. H said smiling a little

 

“Mr. H…” Neku said weakly

 

“yeah?” he replied

 

“thanks…” Neku said smiling a little

 

Mr. H then smiled at Neku happy that his message finally got through

 

“Don’t mention it Phones, now go on and enjoy yourself, after all you’ll go back into the game once the Sun rises, but don’t worry you’ve got this” Mr. H said happily

 

“Yeah I will” Neku also said happily

 

Mr. H then walked out of Neku’s room and returned to his room happy that Neku’s presence felt uplifted.

 

“You’re not a monster Phones, never forget who you are” Mr. H thought to himself

 

Neku then laid on his bed and thought about the last time he played the Angels’ Game

 

“I need my sword again…after all, this version of the Angels’ Game is so insane that I might have to use it.” he thought

 

He then saw his katana fall from thin air towards him in its sheath

 

He then held out his hand and caught it

 

“I’m gonna beat this Game, no matter what” Neku thought

 

“But for now…I should just enjoy my break more”

 

Neku then places his Katana to the left of his bed and hopped off of it. As he did, he thought about his friends which made him happy 

 

 

“If I screw up, I…I might…no…the world ends at my horizons. I've got this, just like what Mr. H said” he said softly

 

Neku then took a deep breath and sighed

 

He then turned to his picture of achieving God status and smiled

 

“Don’t worry Rhyme, I’m gonna make this become real you’ll see.” He said sweetly

 

Rhyme then smiled at the portal

 

“I’m looking forward to it” she said happily

 

“You’ve got this Neku!” Taki said smiling

 

 

Neku then noticed the sky was growing darker in the Game making it also grow darker at his window in his room knowing that he didn’t have much time left he decided to go to Mr. H’s room and hang out with him, but the moment he went into the Angels’ room he was in shock

 

“Welcome to CAT’s true headquarters Phones.” Mr. H said smiling

 

“W-Wait a minute I thought you did your work as CAT in the RG!” Neku said shocked

 

“well yeah but that’s more of a cove- up you see, to make me seem more human, even if I did start my work as CAT in the RG, back before I died I mean. So that little place that I get interviewed at where my CAT mask is, is all part of the charade to make me seem more like I’m part of a company even though the public knows I do most of the work on my own. After all, I can’t let them suspect anything.” Mr. H said smiling

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“Yeah, it’d be crazy if the people in the RG really knew what you do as CAT. So…this is where you start thinking up ideas?” Neku said smiling

 

“Yup, although it’s not really here per say, this is more like a replica of my room in my house in the Composer district.” Mr. H said happily

 

“Huh? But why would an Angel need to live in a house? And…I’ve never seen houses there before” Neku said a little confused

 

“well I have that little house there to sort of get away from it all and focus on my graffiti, and as for why you haven’t seen any houses there, it’s cause they’re cloaked. After all we can’t have anyone sneaking into our houses now right?” Mr. H said with a laidback tone

 

“heh heh, right” Neku replied

 

Mr. H then showed Neku his earliest sketches of the Ghost Cat (however he didn’t show him everything due to how he wanted Neku to see his real house on day) and couldn’t help but smile at how Neku was almost star struck, it was like when a baby becomes amazed by someone dangling keys in front of them. For Neku, CAT’s art work was those keys dangling in his face.

 

He loved how multiple versions of the Ghost Cat hanged on his wall. He was almost in denial it was like a dream come true getting this close to the graffiti artist he respects and admires so much. Mr. H couldn’t help but chuckle seeing Neku slowly walk around the room looking at everything, he even saw how CAT went through various slogans before finally coming up with Do what You Want, How You Want When You Want.

 

“This is…so rad” Neku mumbled to himself

 

Seeing how Neku was almost in a trance, filled with a sense of amazement Mr. H decided that this was a little bit much for his fellow graffiti lover and decided to take Neku to the dining hall for them to eat together.

 

“Phones….um….Phones?” Mr. H said trying to get his attention

 

Mr. H then sighed

 

“Heh heh, I never knew my art meant this much to him. I mean I know that he sees me as his friend and that my art, my work as CAT has always been there for him, especially before the Reapers' Game, but geez, Phones is acting like he’s meeting some celebrity...or rather, a celebrity he'd actually care about” Mr. H thought feeling extremely flattered

 

Mr. H then walked over to Neku and tapped his back causing him to look behind him smiling

 

“Hey kiddo, you alright? You were sorta spacing out there with my art.” Mr. H chuckled

 

“Huh? Oh um…yeah I’m fine” Neku said scratching his head

 

“Well then how about we get a little snack? After all, I may be a dead person, but as you know from the Reapers' Game, we still gotta eat too.” Mr. H said smiling

 

“Heh heh, good idea” Neku said smiling at him

 

They both then went to the dining hall and found a large round table with a white table cloth on top. Two other Hunters in their Angel form were already eating their food when Mr. H and Neku joined them. Neku then closed his eyes and did his usual pose to concentrate creating Shoyu Ramen and chicken nuggets along with coffee all appear onto the table.

 

“I want my coffee to be from WildKat” Neku thought while still concentrating

 

Hearing Neku’s thoughts Mr. H couldn’t help but smile knowing how much Neku likes his Wild Cat blend of coffee. Neku then opened his eyes and got ready to eat

 

“Ramen, Chicken nuggets and coffee? That’s an odd combination” one of the Hunters in front of Neku exclaimed

 

“huh? Oh well I guess it is but… I really like how crunchy chicken nuggets are on the outside and how soft they are on the inside the actual chicken has an almost juicy kind of taste to it.” Neku said smiling

 

“Man that really does sound appetizing” the Angel remarked

 

He had short, platinum blonde hair and blue gray eyes like Neku. His human form also had tight black pants and short sleeve darkblue shirt that had a V-neck split down the shirt. He introduced himself as Akira Takahashi.

 

He also remarked on how he had known Mr. H for many years and was also his partner is many wars before being assigned to Joshua due to him and Joshua becoming best friends. The man next to Akira was Ichiro Yamamoto. Just like Akia Ichiro looked in his late twenties to early thirties. He was more muscular then the rather lanky Mr. H and Akira, making him have a physic similar to Beat. He wore a dark gray sweater with a turtle neck and had dark green eyes with black hair.

 

After Mr. H and the Angels all talked to Neku they then all imagined their food and all began to eat. After eating their food Akia and Ichiro all smiled and said they were glad to have met Neku, he then replied telling them that he felt the same way. Mr. H and Neku then parted ways ready to relax after eating their food. Knowing that not a lot of time would be left Neku saw that the sky had become sunset and watched the sun go down turning into night.

 

“Hey…it’s a new moon already” Neku thought

 

“it’s almost over Shiki, we just have a few more days left.” Neku said out loud looking to his window

 

Neku then closed his eyes snapped his fingers making his TV turn off and then took off his shoes with his feet again and rolled to his right to look at the picture again before going to sleep.

 

As Neku slept Anthony began to think of a way to make the Game even harder for his prey and had an awful idea. Knowing how his servants (just like him) can become undetectable he then opened a portal to the Blank Void instructing his Soul Steelers to make themselves undetectable and hide within the forest and begin to drain Neku’s energy the moment they get their chance.

 

The night began to fade into daytime with the sun rising. Neku’s angelic friend then flew into his room as a white orb of energy and became his human form

 

“Phones” Mr. H said quietly

 

“Hey you gotta wake up”

 

But Neku was in such a deep sleep that he didn’t respond causing Mr. H to chuckle at how at peace Neku was. How he really tried to enjoy his break while at the hotel. Mr. H then had another idea to wake him up.

 

He closed his eyes and focused his Angel energy and sprouted his wings, allowing his many feathers to gently brush Neku’s cheek causing him to move his hand over the feathers making one of them land on his right cheek.

 

Nekuthen opened his eyes and yawned

 

“Huh?…how come you have wings?” Neku said disoriented causing Mr. H to look at Neku confused

 

“cause I’m an Angel remember?” Mr. H said chuckling

 

Neku’s eyes opened more causing him to become more aware of what Mr. H did pulling the angel feather off of his face.

 

“Rise and shine” Mr. H said smiling “You ready?”

 

Mr. H then backed up allowing Neku to get up from the bed while simultaneously getting his katana strapped on hanging off of his left shoulder and levitated Rhyme’s picture into his pocket.

 

“Yeah…thanks for what you said to me before” Neku said smiling

 

“what do you mean?” Mr. H said curiously

 

“About my demon energy…that I need to open up my horizons again…that I’ll survive the Game” Neku said holding onto his right shoulder looking down

 

“heh heh, don’t mention it Phones” Mr. H said happily

 

He then snapped his fingers returning to his usual J of M clothes and began to walk down the bronze stairs heading for the exit making Mr. H teleport down there,the moment Neku approached the door it made him freeze for a moment.

 

“Once I leave here…I can’t come back but…I can’t let Shiki face this on her own. I can’t just let my concern hold me back….it’s not like I WANT to play this again…but I can’t abandon Shiki, she’d never do that to me.” Neku thought

 

“Trust your energy Phones” he heard Mr. H say mentally

 

“Yeah…thanks Mr. H” Neku thought back

 

He then walked out of the door of the hotel and walked onto the playing field finding it odd that no one was there. The blank void is usually filled with the screams of Players and Hunters all being killed, and yet it was empty with the only thing reminding him that he was in the Game was the forest that Players use to hide from Hunters it was so silent that the only thing Neku could hear was his own footsteps, something that made him suspicious.

 

“This isn’t right…how come the Angels’ Game just went to a screeching halt like this? It’s like no one’s here but…someone HAS TO BE here. Are they all waiting for me to go to the Safe Zone so the Game will start or something like that?” Neku wondered in his head knowing an Angel would’ve attacked him the moment he thought this if the Game was starting

 

He then clenched the sheath of his Katana as he walked to the Safe Zone feeling nervous from no one attacking him from him thinking just now he then decided the sooner he got to the safe zone with Shiki in it, the sooner he could try to piece together what’s happening. As Neku cautiously walked to the Safe Zone glancing to his left and right occasionally incase he was going to get attacked he couldn’t help but feel like he was being watched.

 

Due to how he couldn’t feel anyone’s presence he couldn’t help but begin to speed walk to the forest glancing to his left and right more frequently He then just stared straight ahead walking towards the forest and whispered to himself

 

“No one’s here I’m fine” he said quietly

 

Neku finally walked into the Safe zone looking straight ahead and walked very closely looking around him trying to spot a Hunter...but he felt even more nervous as the Hunters weren't in the forest (due to how he’s fought them there before) and then focused on finding Shiki

 

“Shiki…she has to be around here somewhere” Neku whispered

 

As he walked at a more slow and cautious pace he then heard foot steps behind him causing him to instantly stop in his tracks

"Rrrgh! Cut the crap!" he roared

 

he then looked behind him while simultaneously unsheathing his sword, and focused his energy making it glow dark blue

 

His sudden reaction startled the person behind him causing her to gasp.

 

“Neku!” Shiki shrieked

 

“Shiki?!” Neku also yelled

 

“Take it easy! You scared the crap out of me!” Shiki yelled still feeling startled

 

Neku then placed his katana back in its sheath and sighed

 

“Sorry” he said weakly turning his back towards her

 

“You okay? You acted like you were ready to kill someone just now.” Shiki said concerned causing Neku to flashback to what Damien told him and to what Shiki had said two days ago

 

he then scratched his head feeling a little awkward

 

"um...isn't that the point of the Angels' Game though?" he said a little shy

 

Shiki then looked at him confused and then giggled

 

"huh...now that you mention it, that's a good point" she said smiling

 

Neku then chuckled back

 

"yeah, guess so" he said smiling back with his left hand upward

 

 

“So, the Game hasn’t started yet I’m guessing you got the sword again from when you were in the hotel right?” Shiki said trying to change the subject

 

“Yeah…I figured you have something to fight with so, I wanted to have something too.” Neku said smiling a little

 

Shiki then giggled and snapped her fingers summoning the clothes she made in her spare time

 

“I made this for when you got back to the Game” Shiki said smiling holding the light gray hoodie and V-neck cut version of Neku’s favorite shirt

 

“Heh heh, thanks Shiki but…is there a certain reason you keep making me clothes?” Neku said curiously

 

Shiki then blushed

 

“W-What?! Well I…um I just wanted to make you something cause you tend to wear that shirt a lot and um I just wanted you to have something more suited for running and stuff like the people who go out jogging and--

 

Noticing how Shiki had almost gone into a ramble nervously trying to explain why she makes clothes for him, Neku smiled and chuckled at how bashful she suddenly became

 

He then placed his right hand on her shoulder

 

“Alright stop, I guess I should be glad I get to wear something custom made for me anyway. That’s pretty cool” he said smiling

 

Shiki then smiled and handed over the clothes to him once he held them in his hand he then closed his eyes and imagined them on him. When Neku opened his eyes he then had the V-neck shirt on with the light gray hoodie on to of it and his white baggy pants. He also had his MP3 wrapped around his neck like a necklace. He also noticed his V-neck shirt was a little loose compared to his usual shirt.

 

“heh it’s a perfect fit Neku” Shiki said smiling

 

“yeah so…are these suppose to be for running or something?” Neku said curiously

 

“yeah it’s like what I said before it’s like those clothes joggers wear since wearing loose clothing feels better then having to run with something squeezing you, at least in my opinion.” Shiki said bashfully

 

At that moment their timers appeared and Neku became very nervous seeing how the timer had began to go by 10’s faster now

 

“Nngh! 40: 28?!” Neku roared “The last time we played an actual day it was Seventy minutes and twenty-three seconds!”

 

“It’s starting Shiki, the timer speeds up like this to get to the last minuets of the Game by the last day…that is, when the Game lasts that long from Players and Hunters not completely killing each other off.” he said darkly causing her to hold his hand

 

“I know…but at least it’s almost over right?” Shiki said trying to cheer him up

 

“yeah…you ready?” Neku asked

 

“Definitely” Shiki replied

 

"Shiki" Neku said with his hands in his pockets while hanging his head "I...I know you put a ton of effort into making clothes, and I really think it's cool that you made this for me so...I don't want this to get ruined. I'd rather have the clothes I wear get messed up, then the ones you made for me"

 

Shiki then smiled a little, finding it sweet that he cares about how much effort she puts into making clothes

 

"it's okay Neku, I'm happy that you don't want them ruined" she said sweetly

 

Neku then looked up at her and smiled, and then snapped his fingers reverting back to his Jupiter of the Monkey clothes

 

They both looked at each other, nodded and then ran towards the edge of the forest only to have Neku stop in his tracks

 

“Shiki…SHIKI GET DOWN!” Neku yelled

 

She then laid against the floor with Neku doing same with their hands over their heads as dozens of Instant kill shots flew past them the moment everything was quiet again (from them no longer hearing wind blow as the energies flew past them) they then got up and ran back deeper into the forest and finally stopped to catch their breath

 

“So now we can’t even leave the Safe Zone?!” Shiki cried

 

“I…I don’t know! This Game is insane it changes every time!” Neku yelled worried squeezing his hair

 

He then lets go of it and looks at his timer watching it count down

 

“28, 27, 26, 25, twenty-four…I don’t get it. The mission’s still the same, we’re suppose to survive right? That’s the only mission we have but now we can’t even leave this place, an on top of that the Safe Zone isn’t even safe anymore. They could be anywhere.” he said weakly hanging his head

 

“Yeah but now we can go look for them and try to attack them right?” Shiki said trying to be hopeful

 

“yeah…I guess you’re right” Neku said raising his head a little

 

They then walked around the forest with Mr. Mew walking by Shiki just incase they were going to be attacked. As they did this the Hunters were instructed to increase their vibe frequency again so Neku would feel like he’s being watched causing Neku to glance to his right and left again

 

They walked in silence with the only sound being their foot steps but as they continued Neku and Shiki both heard foot steps. Neku and Shiki immediately stop walking and turn around shocked not to see anyone. They continued walking and heard rustling in some bushes causing Neku to feel unsafe

 

“Someone’s here” Neku whispered to Shiki

 

“yeah but… where are they?” she said weakly

 

“I’m not sure...get ready” he replies sternly

 

They continued walking again but now with Neku charging an instant kill shot in his left hand

 

“Neku, don’t start using up your energy!” Shiki said worried

 

She then saw Neku glance at her with his eyes intensified looking sharp, ready to fight

 

The foot steps continued again making Neku finally have enough

 

“Rrrrrgh! Come on out Hunters! Quit screwing around with us! Just cut the crap and FIGHT!” Neku yelled infuriated shaking his fist

 

He then shot the instant kill shot to his left seeing bushes begin to rustle again…but nothing happened

 

“Neku calm down!” Shiki yelled

 

She then saw him hang his head as he trembled with anger with hands balled up into fists

 

“Why…why the hell are they doing this?!" Neku snarled

 

he then raised his head

 

"Is this fun for them?! Do like watching us suffer?!” Neku yelled shaking his fist at Shiki

 

Shiki then placed her hand on Neku’s right shoulder

 

 

“Neku…they can’t answer you” she said weakly

 

As she helped Neku calm down an Angel hidden high above the trees shot the instant kill shot at Neku since he’s the strongest spirit in the Game many Hunters seek to kill him first before targeting the remaining fifteen players. The energy came as a blur of light towards Neku causing him to pull Shiki to the ground.

 

“Come on!” Neku yelled pulling her up

 

Mr. Mew became a Panther and they all hopped on him as they ran deeper into the forest trying to escape the unseen hunter.

 

Another Hunter within the trees shot at Shiki causing Neku to look towards his right at the energy,

 

“No! I’m not letting that crap hit you!” Neku screamed

 

He then closed his eyes and opened them again to generate a barrier around them.

 

“Neku don’t! if the energy hits your shield then--

 

At that moment the instant kill shot aimed at Shiki slices the barrier instead making Neku scream making Shiki become worried about him

 

As the panther tried to run faster Anthony cued the Soul Stealers to intervene. panther Mr. Mew ran down the incline towards the cave and Neku screamed in pain again from more instant kill shots hitting the barrier.

 

"Nnngh! I...I gotta keep going...I...Nnngh! gotta keep her safe" Neku muttered

 

"Neku...please, please hang on, we can out run them" Shiki said weakly

 

another instant kill shot hit the barrier making him scream again

 

"AAAAAGH! Nnngh! d-don't stop now" Neku said weakly

 

Shiki then looked behind her seeing that the Hunters were getting farther away

 

"almost there Neku, you can do this, just a little longer" Shiki said trying to support him

 

a cloaked Soul Stealer slashed the panther making it scream and turn back into Mr. Mew causing Neku and Shiki to go rolling down hill making them get cuts all over their body as hey scraped against rocks and got bruises from slamming onto the ground over and over only to finally smash themselves onto the ground again where the incline had stopped laying unconscious.

 

 

The angels remained completely hidden and watched as Neku and Shiki got up with one of those Angels being Mr. H. they also took advantage of how they were in new territory. Neku and Shiki had rolled past the cave and were now in a new part of the forest consisting of a lake and some nearby rocks.

 

“Nngh! You okay?” Neku said weakly as he got up

 

“Yeah…do you think they stopped?” Shiki said concerned

 

“No idea…but there’s no time to think we have to keep moving!” Neku yelled

 

“Right!” Shiki exclaimed

 

They ran even deeper into the forest hearing foot steps again as someone approached them, Neku immediately stopped and turned around but no one was there. He then pulled out his sword and closed his eyes making an instant kill shot that merged with his sword. Fusing that technique with his sword so he didn’t have to regenerate it over and over after firing it (the way the energy is usually handled) made Neku become very fatigued.

 

Seeing this as a way to hurt him and go unnoticed, a Soul Stealer placed their hand on Neku’s back and began to drain him of energy causing Neku to feel very dizzy. Shiki sees him with his eyes halfway open and noticed he held his katana in a less defensive position but before she could say anything she saw him nearly pass out.

 

“Neku!” Shiki screamed concerned

 

She then caught him and steadied him with her hands on his shoulders. Shiki then began to heal Neku but saw an Angel walk towards them causing her to let go of him.

 

“NO! You’re not gonna kill Neku!” Shiki yelled angrily

 

Neku then closed his eyes and tried to think about feeling better, he knew it would attract angels since they can track a Player by thoughts, but there wasn’t anything else he could do, he was so weak that his instant kill shot dissolved and his sword no longer glowed dark blue from his energy.

 

But the moment he did this, the angel said something that terrified him making him open his eyes and look at the Hunter in shock.

 

“You don’t look so good compared to how you were doing yesterday.” he remarked

 

He noticed the Angel had a bulky physic like Beat and the familiarity of the Hunter’s voice all pointed to one person

 

“Ichiro?” Neku said weakly

 

He then snapped his fingers became his human form while simultaneously creating the instant kill shot in both of his hands

 

“Yeah…” he said darkly

 

“Neku you know this guy?” Shiki said confused

 

“Yeah…I met him in that hotel” Neku whispered

 

Neku began to back away from him causing Shiki to do the same. He then heard foot steps causing him to look behind him (making Ichiro teleport away from Neku) and held his Katana more defensively in a low stance. He began to back away slowly along with Shiki summoning energy in her hands.

 

As they both backup glancing to their left and right, Neku felt liked he was being watched again and slowly turned his head around to see Ichiro again. The moment they made eye contact, Ichiro reached for Neku’s collar with his right hand and lifted him into the air causing him to drop his katana and electrocuted Neku, making him scream as he squeezed Ichiro's arms. Shiki then ran up to the Angel shooting energy at him.

 

Ichiro then held out his hand slowing down their speed and made his hand into a fist breaking her energy.

 

“NOOOO! I’m not letting you kill him!” Shiki screamed charging towards Ichiro

 

The Hunter then opened up his hand sending a powerful blast of wind at Shiki making her fly away from her fatigued friend.

 

“Nekuuuuu!” Shiki screamed

 

She was sent flying back at ridiculous speeds causing her to go all the way towards the edge of the forest. When she and her piggy finally stopped rolling her eyes watered fearing the worst. She could feel how weak Neku’s energy was becoming.

 

She then began to run back to the lake, still unsure of where it was she at least knew that it was not too far from the cave.

 

“Please don‘t go! You have to hang in there Neku!” she yelled out loud

 

But as she ran hoping to find her friend, she too ran into a Hunter.

 

Ichiro then electrocuted Neku even more intensely with his Angel energy making him scream in agony as the energy burned his body making his usual J of M clothes and body get covered in holes ans scratches. Ichiro then threw Neku to the ground and smashed Neku’s frail body into the ground by ramming his elbow into Neku’s stomach making him cough up orbs of his energy.

 

Severely out matched, fighting someone as physically strong as Yodai (but without psychs or a Partner) Neku ran away from Ichiro knowing he was defenseless. Unaware that he was still affected by the Soul Stealer hurting him, Neku generated his energy shield again only to have Ichiro blast holes into it making Neku scream from the pain again.

 

He then tried to run towards a tree just barely missing being fired at by Ichiro’s instant kill shot causing Neku’s right forearm to get scraped by it. He then immediately pulled himself behind a tree trunk and sat down.

 

Everything went eerily quiet. He couldn’t hear any foot steps anymore. All Neku could hear was himself as he panted out of breath.

 

Neku then looked at his right forearm to see that not only was it torn but it had orbs leaking out of it. He then covered up his arm with his left hand hoping to make it stop but it didn’t work. He then felt his eyes widen as he heard foot steps.

 

They began to get louder as the Hunter walked closer to Neku causing him to close his eyes becoming filled with a sense of fear, realizing he was trapped. He had nowhere to run, nothing to defend himself with, and no one to help him.

 

Neku then squeezed his arm even tighter, determined not to let his energy sink through it.

 

The foot steps then became even louder

 

Neku then gritted his teeth, determined not to make a sound. but he now felt chills going down his spine. he knew right now, that this was nothing like the Reapers' Game. he was aware of that before, but now, having nothing to protect himself with...no Psychs, no partners, not even the Light Puck, it'd be as if Neku was in day 1 of the third week, with no psychs to fight the Noise. it would be like if all Neku could do was run for his life, knowing that in a matter of seconds, he would die...that Beat never came to save him

 

He then felt his eyes begin to burn as tears filled his eyes from the images he saw in his head, He saw his own death. He saw an Angel impaling him with an instant kill shot making his body dissolve into dark blue orbs before each one disappeared

 

 

Neku then squeezed his right arm desperate not to let the energy escape but it didn’t work. Neku then felt his hands grow cold as he was growing more overwhelmed by helplessness

 

the foot steps then grew even louder, like Ichiro had almost found Neku, he was just a few feet away from finding him. Neku's whole body then trembled as he knew he was going to be killed, that Ichiro was close to finding him. he wanted to get up, to maybe try to sneak away, but he knew that the sound of him moving, the mere sound of him standing up, would give himself away.

 

getting closer to Neku's presence Ichiro began to blast his energy at trees, causing Neku to open his eyes as he heard what sounded like thunder, the sound of the Hunter blasting through the trees.

 

the blasts grew more frequent as he blasted more trees checking to see if Neku was behind them. knowing that he was growing close, Neku felt his left hand shake, along with his right hand, causing him to clench it into a fist, squeezing the dirt beneath him. the blasts then headed towards the left, making Neku's irises shake...he had almost found him. there was a total of seven blasts, sensing Neku's presence more clearly, Ichiro closed in on a tree, seeing darkblue orbs while sensing a frantic energy near the tree.

 

Neku wanted to scream, he wanted to teleport away but, doing that would expose his energy. Ichiro would then instantly spot him, he knew he was about to die and felt his heart pound against his chest, he wanted to run, but he was frozen. All he could do is look to his left and right desperately trying to spot the Hunter, but then stopped looking straight ahead. Ichiro then walked closer to the tree before finally stopping. it was at that moment, Neku's eyes watered knowing he was about to be killed.

 

“You know…

 

Hearing the voice then made Neku gasp knowing it was all over

 

“You it's over now...there's nowhere to run” Ichiro said

 

He then shot an instant kill shot straight for the tree trunk Neku was hiding behind missing his spiky hair by a few inches making the tree disintegrate to ash.

 

Neku then instantly teleported himself away from the Angel and got in his fighting stance and charged up energy orbs.

 

"I gotta at least try to fight back!" Neku thought

 

Neku then charged his energy orbs as strong as he could and shot them at Ichiro who dodged the orbs. The angel then charged at Neku causing him to recreate his dash psych to dodge Ichrio's swipes, making Ichiro then teleport behing Neku and blast his back.

 

Neku then teleported away and ran away from him. Ichiro then summoned energy mines in the forest.

 

As Neku ran into one of them he screamed in pain as he was burned by the energy again causing him to go flying forward and rolled onto the ground from the impact only to land into another one unaware that the same result was happening to Shiki.

 

They were both being led to the edge of the forest where more Hunters waited. When the two helpless friends reached the empty white space of the blank void. They both saw more explosions go off as more Players were being killed

 

“Fifteen, fourteen…thirteen...twelve…eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five…we’re not…gonna make it…only FIVE of us left…only…five” Neku whispered

 

Neku laid on the floor curled into a ball filled with agony.

 

His clothes, and entire body were torn (his left leg was leaking, left wrist, waist, and left arm was all torn. his right leg and right arm a little past hs shoulder was all leaking)and he was surrounded by his energy seeing it surge like lightning as it became unstable, all Neku could do was wheeze in pain

 

A Hunter at full blast spotted Neku when he was given an order by Aiden and telepathically shared it with everyone else.

 

“Go to your full Vibe Frequency.”

 

Each Angel then closed their eyes and opened them again causing their wingspan to increase being just a few inches away from being 12 feet long, at Mr. H’s power.

 

The Angel hovering before Neku then charged up the instant kill shot in his hand but then made it thick, and have more of a dull point at its tip. A technique used to pin down Players. He then shot it at Neku who then felt a tear go down his right cheek

 

“I’m…sorry…Rhyme. I'm sorry Shiki...everyone...it's all over” Neku whispered

 

He then closed his eyes ready to never see his friends again when he felt a certain jolt by his left wrist

 

“Nngh! Wait…I…I felt that?!” Neku said to himself

 

The Angel then did the same thing to his right wrist and legs right by what his shoes covered

 

The Angel then charged up the instant kill shot in his left hand when he heard someone scream

 

“NOOOO!”

 

Neku then was filled with shock as he saw someone leap in front of him taking the hit for him.

 

“MITSURUUU!” Neku shouted

 

The angel then began to charge up the energy again and aimed at Neku.

 

He then closed his eyes and focused

 

“She…she gave up her life for me…I…I thought I was just a tool to her but…

 

Neku then felt his body burn causing him to grow dark blue energy on him but it quickly dissolved due to fatigue

 

He felt his eyes become heavy unaware that a Soul Stealer was draining his energy.

 

His energy broke into more orbs and streams of lightning

 

Everything started to become quiet and everything grew darker causing him to flashback to when he first met Shiki in the UG. His eyelids became even heavier to the point his eyes were halfway open.

 

“everything’s…so…cold” he whispered

 

Neku’s friends all felt their eyes water whereas Joshua looked at Neku in shock

 

He then flashed back to when he and Mr. H were in another war with Demons and how he was nearly killed in one of them, it was when he was still an Angel and remembered how a Demon stood ontop of him preparing to tear off his wings and how Mr. H had put himself in danger determined to protect Joshua no matter what, how at that war, they both were nearly killed.

 

Seeing the war play in his head how he wheezed in pain with Mr. H also wheezing from fatigue Joshua was filled with sadness.

 

“You’re like a friend to me”

 

He remembered saying

 

“Neku…” Joshua whispered

 

“Neku! Don’t just lay there! Neku DO SOMETHING!” he shouted angrily

 

Neku’s friends all looked at him in shock as they saw a tear stream down Joshua’s right cheek

 

More memories raced into Neku’s head

 

“Why?…Why is it that no matter how much stronger I get I…I still get in a situation like this? No…matter what I do…I just can’t help but almost get myself killed. Everything they all did to get me back, all the things they’ve said to me…it’ll all go away now…whenever I had my ass handed to me by demons Mr. H was always there to bail me out…everything they’ve all gone through, IT’LL ALL BE FOR NOTHING IF FADE HERE!” he screamed in his head

 

He then closed his eyes and the angel shot the energy at him only for it to get blown to the left away from him. The moment Neku opened it he had his energy surge again and teleported away from the Angel.

 

Neku then reappeared right in the Angel’s face and punched him causing the Angel to go flying down to the ground, Neku then fired the instant kill shot at the Angel causing him to dissolve.

 

Feeling an adrenaline rush Neku then teleported to other Angels and all shot them with instant kill shots. The Game began to end and time had gone by very fast with his timer going down to

 

30:26

 

Neku was on such a rampage that he cut the Hunters down to ten before they all had to retreat. Neku had then powered down to his normal form and found a Hunter that was left behind and shot him with the instant kill shot. But by doing so Neku had reached his limit and nearly passed out squeezing his right arm for support

 

“You can’t afford to pass out when facing Anthony or his Soul Stealers cause then, it’s over”

 

He remembered Joshua saying

 

Soul Stealers still lurked in the area and as Neku walked up to a severely wounded Shiki, who was surrounded by her energy also having it surge like lightning, he felt something latch onto his arms and felt something pushing him down.

 

“Nngh! What’s…happening to me?” Neku whimpered

 

He then felt himself nearly drop to the floor desperately trying to hold himself together and support his body with his hands on his legs but then he felt a Soul Stealer bite the right half of his face causing it to leak energy. The same result happened to his arms from the Soul Stealers from earlier.

 

“Shiki…” Neku said panting out of breath

 

As much as it was hurting him to move, he knew he had to help her and was determined not to let her down.

 

"I can't screw this is up" he whispered to himself

 

Neku then closed his eyes and focused on trying to feel better saying something outloud

 

"I have to stay strong...for her"

 

determined to deal with the agony he felt, Neku picked up Shiki and ran into the Safe Zone causing his timer to go away. He ran from the edge of the forest all the way towards the cave where he laid her down and sat next to her guarding her no matter what

 

“Neku? He ran all the way there even though I could sense how that was tearing up his body more, and on top of that found the strength to carry Shiki? Heh, good work Neku. He did the same thing to protect Shiki from Clarissa when he took Shiki to Spain Hill. He was exhausted then too. That's the Neku I know. That is why your mind made you my pick to my Proxy, even in the Reapers' Game you showed that same endurance Neku. Good job” Joshua thought smiling satisfied

 

To be continued…


	7. A Tortured Past

THE 7TH DAY

 

 

Being vigilant Neku was willing to make himself endure the pain of his energy leaking out of him. With his only support in the Game now unconscious, Neku sat in front of Shiki ready to charge energy in his left hand and kill whoever approached them.

 

As he waited, Neku began to feel extremely tired as the energy began to drain him some more and felt his eyes shut, rather then resisting, he knew he needed rest to protect Shiki better and allowed his eyes to close.

 

as he sat there, Neku focused his last bit of strength into setting up an invisible barrier around the entrance of the cave, but due to his fatigue it wasn't as strong as it would've normally been, but thankfully his energy is powerful enabling the barrier to block out an average Player.

 

 

When Neku finally regained consciousness he becomes extremely startled to see a certain person in the cave with him sitting next to him, but was even more shocked that the person had passed his barrier. He was filled with rage and anger hating that HE of all people had to be with him at his most vulnerable moment.

 

Neku then instantly got to his feet and charged up his instant kill shot

 

“What’re you doing here?” Neku snarled

 

“Oh, hello to you too Neku” Tetsu said annoyed

 

“seriously you’re kind of being inconsiderate considering what I did for you.” he added

 

“What?!” Neku roared

 

“When you were unconscious I managed to heal you a bit…I’m not the best at healing so that’s why I was only able to remove so much of all those scratches and holes of energy leaking out of you.” Tetsu said weakly

 

Neku then looked at his enemy in shock and allowed his instant kill shot to dissolve. He then looked at his arms noticing that nearly all of his scratches were gone and his energy was reduced to tiny holes instead of gaping ones that tore apart his body.

 

He then looked up at Tetsu and crossed his arms

 

“The thing I don’t understand is why…why did you help me? Why did you go out of your way to do that…you could’ve killed me you know and instead you…saved me. I don’t get it.” Neku said frustrated

 

Tetsu then smiled a little

 

“It’s cause…I wanted to help, to do something as my way of…saying sorry for what I did.” he said sincerely

 

Neku then placed his hands in his pockets and glared at Tetsu

 

“yeah well that doesn’t excuse you for what you did to Shiki. Don’t even think for a second that I trust you.” he said darkly causing Tetsu to frown

 

“You…no, ALL of you sent her to die. You all were going to let her get killed. Someone that sick, that messed up...It makes me wonder how the hell people like you have souls. You’re not alive, you’re just people wandering around the world not valuing anyone’s life at all. Not even I was that bad back when I thought people were gonna mess with me, and hold me back. Even back then, as much as I hated people, I‘d never attempt to kill someone.” Neku said hiding his face

 

“people like you…shouldn’t even exist.” he added angrily

 

Hearing Neku say such a thing caused Tetsu to snarl making Neku look at him in shock sensing how Tetsu’s energy was rapidly becoming hostile causing him to stand up looking at Neku with pupiless eyes and sharp dog like teeth.

 

“You can say that all you want about me, but don’t you EVER TALK ABOUT YUSUKE AND MITSURU THAT WAY! SHE DIED PROTECTING YOU, AND YOU’RE JUST WRITE HER OFF LIKE THAT?! LIKE WHAT SHE DID DIDN’T MATTER?!” he screamed

 

Mr. H (who was now on break) was also able to sense how intense Tetsu’s energy was becoming as he watched the Game through his TV becoming extremely concerned for Neku.

 

“If Phones doesn’t calm down and watch what he says, this kid could try to kill him. C’mon Phones you’re smarter than this just calm down, besides you two need to work together to heal Shiki, her energy’s still leaking” he thought worried

 

Tetsu then began to walk closer to Neku and his energy began to surge like fire making a mint green aura swirl around him causing Neku to back away from feeling the energy burning him, just from Tetsu being that close.

 

He than had an evil smile and his fingernails became claws and let’s out a sinister laugh sounding similar to Joshua’s laugh.

 

“You’re right you know…I shouldn’t exist--

 

He then grabbed Neku by his funnel collar and raised him into the air and punched Neku in the stomach sending him flying. When he slammed his body onto the ground. As he got to his feet Tetsu, (with his left hand engulfed in energy) slashed Neku’s funnel collar and grabbed his neck choking Neku and slammed him against a wall in the cave.

 

“But that doesn’t mean I’m just going to sit back and let you insult them like that. I shouldn’t have healed you. I see that now…

 

He then squeezed Neku’s neck making him scream as Tetsu electrocuted him

 

“Stop” Neku wheezed

 

he then closed his eyes in a more relaxed way and focused his energy. By doing this he then blasted Tetsu away with his energy making him lang on the ground as Neku tried to steady his breath

With no one to help him calm down, Tetsu was becoming overwhelmed from his hostile energy making him nearly become demonic wanting to see Neku suffer

 

Neku then got in his fighting stance ready to protect Shiki, but then clasped his left hand on his right shoulder remembering that Tetsu has just lost control over himself.

"Tetsu....I, I'm sorry" Neku said morosely

 

“what?” Tetsu said weakly

 

He saw Tetsu then close his eyes and took a deep breath making his claws go back to being finger nails and opened his eyes to reveal them having pupils again.

 

“I shouldn’t have said that…Mitsuru and Yusuke, they’ve been there for me. They protected me, and you‘ve protected me too…I know now that you guys were just trying to survive…I kind of had to do something similar to Shiki too.” Neku said weakly

 

Tetsu then sat down causing Neku to do the same

 

“really?” Tetsu said curiously

 

“yeah” Neku replied

 

“I was involved in something called The Reapers’ Game where me, and my partner would fight for a second chance at living. It’s also suppose to only go for one week, but due to a bet the Composer of Shibuya made with his Conductor on whether or not to destroy Shibuya, it ran for three weeks. It was for the Composer to help strengthen his Proxy and for the Conductor to try everything he can…to kill him…that…was me.” Neku said darkly

 

Tetsu then hanged his head feeling sad that people tried to kill Neku

 

“There was this one Reaper who put me into an awful situation” Neku continued “She told me things about my first partner that were all lies, but since I didn’t know her, since I didn’t trust Shiki, I believed the lie that she was giving information to them, that she was a spy for the Reapers. The Reaper then told me to kill Shiki or else she would kill me--

 

Neku then squeezed his hair with frustration remembering how he heard his heart pounding as he prepared to kill Shiki

 

“I…I didn’t know what to do! I didn’t want to die!” Neku screamed

 

He then sighed and lets go of his hair

 

“In the end” Neku said darkly “I chose to survive…and nearly killed Shiki. I’ll never forget that moment, where I nearly took someone’s life…ever since then, I’ve always regretted doing that to her. But even though I tried to kill her, she stuck by me desperately wanting to just…understand me…and before I knew it, she became my first real friend…in years...after it had been several years that my best friend died before I played Game of course.”

 

“I’m really sorry man, I’ve only heard of The Reapers’ Game. I’ve never seen it or played it before…that’s so brutal but…I’m glad you at least have a friend now.” Tetsu said looking up at him

 

“Yeah, not just Shiki, but my second and third partners, they became my friends too. Even my third partner Beat, his little sister became friends with me too.” Neku said smiling

 

They then both looked at her and saw she was still surrounded by her energy.

 

“Shiki...I'm glad she's still here. But still, her energy's been leaking out for a while, I...thought she would’ve--

 

Neku then looked at Tetsu who smiled at him

 

“You saved her?” he said in shock

 

“yeah…although you can’t see it, I’ve set up a barrier to keep her energy from Fading. Think of it being kind of like a lava lamp. The little bubbles of lava all swirl around and stuff, but they never leave the actual lamp it’s in. that’s sort of like what’s happening to Shiki” Tetsu explained

 

Neku then hid his face from Tetsu

 

“I’m not really good at healing, like I said earlier that’s why I was only able to heal you so much, and on top of that it took a lot of energy to do that. So doing that for Shiki was the next best thing I could do for her” Tetsu said scratching his head a little

 

“Tetsu…” Neku said weakly

 

“I’m really sorry man. For you to actually help her, to help us both, when we were easy targets to be killed I…I don’t even know what to say. But…I don’t think I can forgive you yet. I may not know you, like how Yusuke and Mitsuru did, and I’m sorry that their gone but, even if I haven’t forgiven you, I trust you.”

 

Tetsu then looked at Neku shocked

 

“You really trust me? Even after I attacked you just now?” he said surprised

 

“Yeah” Neku said smiling “I know what it’s like to have uncontrollable energy. I have an idea” he added “If we both try to heal Shiki then I think she’ll be okay. I’m not that good at healing either, it takes a lot of concentration to do that but I’ve done it multiple times so I know how to do it”

 

“heh, cool…let’s try it” Tetsu said smiling

 

They then walked over towards Shiki and Tetsu held his hand out towards her making his energy visible and lowered the barrier. They both then sat down in front of her and generated energy in their hands and began healing Shiki.

 

Although he couldn’t access his angel energy, which would’ve made this a lot easier for him, Neku merely focused on how he wanted Shiki to feel better and his energy became more powerful because of it. Similar to how he healed Shiki when Clarissa surprised attacked them before the war started.

 

Her energy began to stabilize no longer crackling from surging like lightning and began to have a wavy motion to it with her energy beginning to flow back inside her including the parts that became orbs.

 

Neku felt the warmth of her energy lessen and smiled knowing that this meant that the energy was going back inside her. When the warmth went away he and Tetsu then opened their eyes to see all of the energy back inside Shiki.

 

He then turned to Neku seeing him smile at Shiki.

 

“That girl means a lot to you huh Neku?” he said curiously

 

A startled Neku then turned over to Tetsu looking at him in shock

 

“W-What?! W-well yeah…she’s my friend you know! What did you think we were something else?!” Neku said in his shocked pose

 

“No, but I just find it interesting that’s all especially since she said she’s only known you for a month and a half” Tetsu said smiling

 

“Oh…well that’s another thing from the Reapers’ Game. When you forge a pact with your Partner, choosing him, or her to fight alongside you, you merge your mind and soul with that person, literally becoming apart of them to the point you could even sense when they’re in pain when fighting the Noise.” Neku said smiling a little

 

“Whoa, that sounds really intense” Tetsu said amazed

 

“Yeah, I had to trust her with my life knowing that if Shiki died…I would die too. Players can only exist seven minutes without a partner. So even though I’ve only known her and my other partners for a month and half the fact that we linked ourselves together still has an affect in the afterlife, now that our Souls are set free.” Neku added

 

Tetsu then smiled saying he thinks that what Neku just said sounds incredible and then looked at his hand and back at Neku happy to not see a timer

 

“The Game hasn’t started yet” he added “so we can at least kill time by talking or something. It’d be less awkward then just standing here doing nothing.”

 

“yeah” Neku said smiling too

 

He then looked back at Shiki

 

“Plus We’ll have to keep an eye on Shiki too until she wakes up” he added

 

“Good point” Tetsu said looking back at Neku

 

They then sat down and began to just talk to each other with Neku revealing something about himself that Tetsu never knew

 

“You know how your energy goes crazy making you get more hostile and vicious, well I…kind of know what that feels like.” he said weakly

 

“really?” Tetsu said curious

 

“yeah, I…have demon energy inside me. That’s why I felt so nervous around you the first time we met. I could sense how demon like your energy is.” Neku said hanging his head a little

 

“It’s taken over me multiple times, making me see my friends as energy to be absorbed instead of people. I’ve even attacked them…I’ve hurt them before and I was even consumed by the energy. It…just took over me, making me forget everything about myself, even my own name. Before I knew it, I was so out of control that I nearly killed them.” he said sadly

 

Tetsu then turned his eyes away from Neku knowing what that’s like.

 

“We may be here a while, this is…the sixth day, so…who knows who’ll survive to the next one you know?” he said darkly

 

Neku then felt a knot in his stomach knowing what could happen to him, Shiki or Tetsu, especially since he’s barely survived this game too, and has nearly Faded.

 

“I also know…how my energy made you nervous, cause my energy’s a lot like that demon energy you described just now so…I guess we should well…know each other…before we fight again.” Tetsu said desperately trying to not get upset

 

Neku then raised his head and looked at Tetsu, he then turned his head towards Neku and their eyes met. Blue-gray eyes and gold eyes locked onto each other almost like they knew deep down what would happen to them the moment they fight each other. As a result they then knew that they wanted answers, to get closure before fighting to the death again.

 

Tetsu then took a deep breath and exhaled

 

“Neku, I was able to sense a lot from you just now…and I know…you went through a lot of crap, that people have hurt you…haven’t they?” he said weakly

 

“Huh? How do you know that?” Neku said curiously

 

“It’s how I knew you were a Proxy. It’s sort of like X-ray vision, but instead of seeing bones, I can see so to speak, one’s past or powers by being around them. It’s just something I could do ever since I became a ghost. I could sense a deep sense of sadness in you just now, and by sensing that sadness it lead to certain information, like how you’ve been betrayed by people, lied too, abandoned…you had your trust broken and it filled with so much pain that you pushed everyone away determined not to let people in again…at least…that’s what I think based off of what I sensed” Tetsu explained

 

Neku then scratched his head

 

“Geez and I thought ‘eyes being windows to the soul’ was just an expression” Neku said stunned

 

“Heh heh, yeah same here” Tetsu said smiling a little

 

He then become more serious showing a little be of sadness

 

“You’re probably wondering it right? How I know so much about the Angels’ Game, specifically this version? Well…it’s cause this isn’t just a Game for me…this is…my home.” he said melancholy

 

“Huh? What do you mean by that?” Neku said confused

 

Tetsu then sighed

 

“Alright, I guess we should start with when I was alive…so you have a better understanding as for why I’m here, and how I dragged Mitsuru and Yusuke into this” he added

 

“Like you and Shiki, I’m also from Shibuya but I didn’t exactly have a great life living in the fashion obsessed city. You see I…I…don’t even have real parents” Tetsu said sadly

 

“What?! Tetsu you mean that they left you?!” Neku said shocked

 

“In a way…yeah they did. See I never really knew them, they put me up for adoption when I was a baby and I never heard or saw them ever…I was put in a foster home. I first got there when I was just a baby. In a way, that Foster home felt more…like a real home for me…but…deep down I knew it wasn’t…it’s a home for those who don’t really have a home you know? It’s just a place for you to live in until you get adopted. Plus it doesn’t help that I had really bad anger issues when I was alive…I guess that’s what made my energy so demon like when I eventually died.” he explained

 

Tetsu then continued revealing his past…

 

“I lived in that Foster home for many years, but because of my anger issues no one would want to adopt me. Yeah I’d go from house to house the moment someone finally wanted to adopt me…but all the same they’d bring me back saying that they can’t handle me, and my anger. See when I get really mad, like the way you’ve seen me already.” Tetsu said morosely

 

I get the urge to take out my anger on people by attacking them, sort of like treating people like punching bags. Unfortunately when my anger gets the best of me I just sort of, don’t think you know. I just get so angry that that’s all I’m focusing on” Tetsu said hanging his head

 

“Eventually I lived there in that foster home watching all of the people around me getting adopted…everyone leaving to a better life…a Forever Home…as their often called. It made me so angry! Why?! WHY DIDN’T ANYONE WANT ME?!” Tetsu screamed with his hands balled up into fists

 

He then took a deep breath and sighed

 

“I had enough…I couldn’t take it anymore…I took my belongings, took one last look at my room and left the only home I ever had. By now I was at the age I was when I died…17. I lived off of the streets living in alleys watching all those damn, spoiled little bastards living happy lives! It’s like I WASN’T EVEN THERE! No one knew where I was, no one tried to find me…no one CARED!” he yelled

 

I use to sleep by a dumpster in an alleyway that was near some guy’s house…I would always hide not sure if he SHOULD see me you know? I mean what if he wasn’t a good person…what if he tried to hurt me? But…one day my stomach was rumbling, I was so hungry that I could feel my stomach crunching…like it was almost hollow and empty and I wasn’t sure what to do.” Tetsu said hurt

 

“Tetsu…I’m…sorry man. I don’t even know what to say…I mean…it got better right? It had to…it’s like CAT’s slogan: Enjoy every moment with all you’ve got. There had to have been something you got out of this right?” Neku said weakly hiding his face in his funnel collar

 

“CAT huh? I’ve heard that slogan before” Tetsu said causing Neku to look up at Tetsu smiling a little

 

“CAT seems really cool trying to make others happy…that’s why one day when searching for food I just sort of…stumbled into Udagawa.” he said looking at Neku

 

“I felt lightheaded and weak…I was willing to go anywhere for food, and then there it was, that tag mural in Udagawa…I saw it before I nearly passed out from fatigue and then I felt someone catch me. He had pale skin, gray eyes, blackish blue hair and looked about in his mid thirties. He had a gray jacket on, plain blue jeans and black shoes. I saw him pull out a small loaf of bread in a plastic bag that looked like part of it was eaten. He then tore a piece of it and gave it to me.” Tetsu said smiling

 

“I was astonished…I never thought someone would help me…but he did. He introduced himself as Katsu Yasushi. He saw how my clothes, the ones I’m wearing now, were all dirty and torn from me living on the streets. He took me into his home and allowed me to take a shower in his home to get clean.” he said happily

 

“He even washed my clothes for me and when I got out of the shower I saw that they were neatly folded in the bathroom for me to wear again…I still don’t know how he did that without me ever hearing him get into the bathroom but I never bothered to ask. I was just so happy to be in a house.” Tetsu added

 

Hearing their conversation Mr. H smiled knowing that Katsu, was a fellow Guardian like he was, who was sent to help Tetsu, since Guardian Angels occasionally help humans that desperately need it.

 

Neku then looked at Tetsu and smiled happy that he finally had a home

 

“So then what happened?” Neku said smiling

 

“well sadly all good things come to an end.” becoming more serious

 

He then explained that after a few days had passed since he first entered Katsu’s house that something awful happened when he and Tetsu were walking down the street a thug had attacked Katsu.

 

He told Tetsu to run away as fast as he could and never look back. Trusting his father figure Tetsu ran away feeling his eyes burn desperately trying to ignore Katsu’s grunts of pain as the thug would beat him. Katsu (being in his human form and really an Angel could only do so much without giving away that he’s inhuman. As much as he wanted to use his inhuman like strength to easily kill the thug with his Angel powers he couldn’t do it in the RG)

 

Tetsu felt his eyes burn more and more until he had tears streaming down his face and immediately stopped dead in his tracks when hearing a certain sound…a gunshot.

 

Tetsu then looked back and saw Katsu dead

 

The moment the thug saw Tetsu look at him he pointed his gun and fired, shooting Tetsu in the head.

 

“And…that’s how I died” Tetsu said sadly “The only upside is that the Crime Rate is really low in Shibuya and Japan in general so stuff like this doesn‘t happen very often…but it DOES STILL happen. After that, I ended up in the Higher Plane and I met some guy with black sunglasses it feels so long ago, that I don’t even remember his name…but I do remember seeing him in the Game.”

 

“Mr. Hanekoma” Neku exclaimed “that’s they guy you’re talking about. He’s just…so cool…he’s saved my ass from demons tons of times and he was a Guardian in the Reapers’ Game making sure the Reapers didn’t break the rules and go nuts…even if it IS there game, you know?”

 

“Man, Mr. Hanekoma sounds…badass” Tetsu remarked

 

Hearing such a thing couldn’t help but make the modest Angel scratch his head feeling bashful

 

“yeah…he really is” Neku said smiling

 

Tetsu then explained that Mr. H was the Angel that helped him adjust to the Higher Plane. (But due to how he could sense how demon like Tetsu’s energy was he was nearly always monitoring him)

 

He then met Mitrusu and Yusuke they all became friends and became the family Tetsu never had. They supported him and were there for him causing him to be very protective of Yusuke and Mitsuru. But one time when they hanged out together and were attacked by demons, Guardian Angels went and protected them. But as they attacked the Demons one of them teleported towards Mitsuru causing Tetsu to expose his hostile energy for the first time.

 

He killed the demon and went on a rampage killing the seven other demons and even killed some of the guardian angels. Deeming him too dangerous to be around other Fledglings, he was sent to the Blank Void along with Mitsuru and Yusuke for not stopping Tetsu and for them to monitor him.

 

Neku then hanged his head filled with sadness

 

“So THAT’S how you know so much about the Game…Tetsu I’m sorry man. I wish that crap hadn’t had happened to you.” he said weakly

 

 

“But you know you’re not the only one who’s been hurt by the world right? I’ve been hurt too remember?” Neku added

 

Tetsu then became a little frustrated

 

“Yeah, you were hurt and abandoned by friends. I know how much that sucks but can you really say that you had that bad of a life Neku? You had a family, a roof over your head, YOU HAD PARENTS!” Tetsu yelled

 

“What?!” Neku yelled standing up shaking his fist

 

Tetsu then stood up to look at Neku

 

“Of course it sucked! Do you have any clue of how much that hurts?! You trust them! You tell them everything! YOU LOSE A SENSE OF INNOCENCE YOU HAD FROM TRUSTING THEM, IT CHANGES YOU! YOU FEEL LIKE THEY’LL BE THERE FOR YOU, ONLY TO HAVE THEM STAB YOU IN THE BACK! YOU NEVER--

 

Neku then took a deep breath and sighed

 

“I never had friends…I get it Neku…but tell me, WHEN DID THIS BECOME A LET’S SEE WHO’S LIFE SUCKS MORE CONTEST?!” Tetsu yelled back

 

They both then heard a mumble

 

They both then turned over to see Shiki open her eyes

 

“Shiki!” Neku said smiling

 

He then turned back to Tetsu

 

“Tetsu I’m sorry, I…didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean to get you mad, I just don’t know what to say man…I know saying I’m sorry won’t change anything but--

 

Tetsu then sighed

 

“It’s alright” he said smiling “I guess we could say that both of our lives sucked for different reasons”

 

“yeah, I know what it's like to feel like no one cares about you too...life can really suck like that, I guess” Neku said smiling

 

He then helped Shiki get up

 

“Neku what’s up? How come you and him were smiling just now?” she said curiously

 

“well I guess you could say Tetsu and I have some things in common” he said smiling

 

At that moment Neku, Shiki and Tetsu all felt their hands sting, something that made Anthony excided

 

He began to analyze why his previous attempts to kill Neku had been interrupted and realized that his set backs all pointed towards Neku’s friends. He then decided that in order to make Neku suffer and make Shiki understand the sadness of losing someone close to you, he would have to get rid of anyone that stands in his way planning on luring one of his friends into a trap to save Neku if he survives the Game.

 

The Players then all looked at their timers in shock but especially Neku (being so preoccupied with fighting yesterday he hadn’t even looked at his timer even once and had no idea it had gone down so fast)

 

30: 25

 

“The Game’s gonna end soon guys” Neku said weakly

 

“Yeah, one last day and it’s finally over…but there’s something you need to know about this day in particular.” Tetsu said darkly with his back facing Neku and Shiki

 

“Like what?” Shiki asked

 

He then looked over his shoulder towards her feeling a little concerned

 

“This day has been nicknamed by Players as, The Massacre. This is due to how now Players aren’t focusing on trying to escape the Angels like last time…now this is a face to face fight to the death with the other Players. The Angels back off and attack the last remaining players…the last ones standing move on to the last day…that is…if everyone isn’t killed today.” he said darkly

 

Shiki then became extremely pale

 

“They…they’re going to make us…fight to the death like that?” she said weakly

 

Neku then hid his face in his funnel collar and was also pale

 

“This is…just like when all of those Reapers tried to kill me on the third week of the Reapers’ Game. Beat and I were the last Players of the Game…so they went crazy all trying to gang up on us and kill us.” he said trying to hide how nervous he was

 

Tetsu then turned around to see that Neku was starting at him with color returning to his face. Neku then looked towards Shiki and asked her if she was okay

 

“Yeah…I’m fine” she said weakly

 

She then looked towards Tetsu who then smiled a little

 

“If we stick together and back each other up, we’ll have a better chance of surviving.” he said calmly

 

“Good idea” Neku added

 

“Yeah that ought to make this day easier” Shiki said trying to be hopeful

 

Tetsu then nodded his head and they began to walk out of the cave.

 

“Ten Hunters…and five Players…but with Tetsu Shiki and I…that’s eight. I‘ve got this, I‘m not gonna Fade” Neku whispered so quietly no one else could hear him

 

They then walked into the blank void and saw the five players lined up in front of them, feeling like something else is near him Neku looked up becoming startled seeing Hunters in their Angel forms hovering a few feet above them. He then looked back at the five players and they instantly ran towards him and his friends. Neku Shiki and Tetsu all ran towards the five Players. They then crashed into each other with players going flying back as they all tackled each other.

 

Players all slashed each other with energy, and burned each other with energy causing them all to scream in pain. A Player tackled Neku to the ground and punched him in the face over and over causing Neku to grunt in pain from each punch. He then focused energy into his hands and electrocuted the Player sending him flying away.

 

Neku then scrambled to his feet and ran towards Shiki seeing that another Player was trying to sneak up on her, causing Neku to pounce at the Player tackling him to the ground. They both scratched and slashed each other in the face over and over. Neku then focused energy in his right hand and shot the enemy in the chest getting some distance.

 

Seeing this as an opportunity to tap into his mind Neku summoned spraypaint cans and ran towards the other Players.

 

“Shiki!” he yelled “Shiki, get close to me and get Tetsu here too!” he yelled

 

Shiki (who was also fighting another Player blasted energy into a girl Player’s face sending her flying)

 

“Okay!” Shiki yelled back

 

She saw Tetsu who was perfectly calm slashing enemies with his energy and blasted orbs into multiple Players, something that startled Shiki. She the ran to him and told him what Neku had said

 

They then ran towards him and he fired lava and fire out of his spray paint cans. The five Players all teleported away from it with two of them not escaping in time making the lava burn their souls to the point they Faded.

 

The opposing Players, now cut to three with each of them teleporting right in front of Neku, Tetsu and Shiki. They then pounced on them causing them to go rolling on the floor as they all slashed each other again with energy. Neku focused his energy throughout his body and blasted the Player away. The same player then got to his feet and fired energy at Neku which he blocked right away.

 

Shiki and Mr. Mew also attacked the person who tackled them, Mr. Mew would slash the opponent over and over while she then blasted the opponent with energy sending her rather muscular opponent flying.

 

Tetsu was also fighting his opponent while slashing him with his mint green energy. The opponent blocked Tetsu’s energy and also teleported behind him and slashed the enemy from behind sending the enemy flying to the ground. Tetsu then focused his energy and then summoned a massive blast of energy blowing up the Player.

 

Shiki then went into her piggy and took control of his panther form and viciously slashed the muscular Player making him fade.

 

She then got out of Mr. Mew and looked at her hand seeing it read

 

20:31

 

Shiki and Tetsu then turned to Neku seeing him suddenly struggling to push back the Player’s energy unaware that Anthony was weakening him.

 

“That’s it Neku” Anthony said telepathically “Just let everything go…there’s no need to fight anymore.”

 

“Nngh…No…I can’t lose now…I’ve come so…

 

He then feels his hands tremble desperately trying to fight back the energy

 

“Nnnnngh!…I can’t keep this up” he thought knowing he could finally do that without Hunters killing him for it

 

Shiki and Tetsu then run towards Neku only to see the enemy player blast Neku with energy sending him flying, rolling onto the ground squeezing his right shoulder.

 

“Stop!” Neku whimpered

 

He then felt his shoulder burn more as Anthony burned off more of the seal making thicker cracks that tore through the seal’s design. As his Demon energy began to consume him, Neku began to feel extremely weak making his eyelids feel heavy.

 

He tried to get up and was almost completely standing when Anthony made Neku feel like he was getting crushed causing his body to tremble as Neku fell to his knees.

 

The Player fighting him smiled at Neku’s weakness, he looked up at the Player terrified as he saw the enemy charge up a massive amount of energy as the Player walked towards him, making him nervous since he knows how weak he feels thanks to the demon energy, he knew he wouldn‘t be able to fight back. As he watched the Player increase the energy’s power he heard Shiki and Tetsu call out to him.

 

“Neku!” Shiki yelled “Snap out of it! You can take this guy! You can handle this, I know you can!”

 

“She’s right Neku!” Tetsu also yelled while charging up energy “You gotta fight back!”

 

Getting that much needed support Neku felt more in control again and charged up energy and fired it at the Player sending him flying. Neku quickly rose to his feet and fired a massive ray of energy at the Player blowing him up. Shiki, Tetsu and Neku then all looked at the Angels and they looked back at them.

 

“You ready?” Tetsu asked

 

“yeah” Neku replied

 

“same here” Shiki added

 

They then all looked up at the Angels knowing they were the last Players. Feeling a little anxious Neku looked at his left hand and looked at his timer again. Seeing it read

 

20:25

 

“it’s slowing down?” Neku whispered

 

He then placed his hand down and got into his fighting pose along with Shiki and Tetsu doing the same. Tetsu and Neku charged up instant kill shots and Mr. Mew transformed into a panther allowing Shiki to take control over it.

 

The ten Angels all charged at Neku and his friends slashing them from all angles making them scream in pain as they were sent flying, making Neku and Tetsu’s instant kill shots dissolve, and were be slashed again with energy making their clothes and bodies get torn leaking energy.

 

They would slash Neku’s right cheek sending him flying only to be caught by another Hunter who blasted his back sending him flying to another Angel who blasted energy into his chest, he was then sent flying down to the ground as another Hunter caught Neku by wrapping energy around him tying it around him like a rope.

 

Tetsu and Shiki were also having the same thing happen to them only with the exception of being tied up with angel energy. instead they had Hunters tackle them to the ground and hold them in place allowing some of the other Hunters to focus on Neku, something that overwhelmed Mr. H with concern

 

“Neku!” Mr. H thought “You gotta get out of there kiddo, I know they didn’t give you any openings to attack but you gotta find a way to fight back…

 

He also notices Tetsu’s energy spiking up from seeing Neku so defenseless

 

“That kid…his energy’s starting to spike up…this is really bad, at this rate he might target them again” Mr. H thought worried

 

Tetsu began to snarl as he saw Neku barley even conscious as the Hunter held him close to him and charged up the instant kill shot in his right hand causing Neku’s eyes to widen. The Angel then raised his hand getting ready to strike when a certain noise distracted him. He heard a distorted, inhuman sounding roar and saw a dome of mint green energy blast the Angels away from him and Shiki (due to how he had wrapped the barrier of energy around them both)

 

As a blur Tetsu zoomed to the Hunter and slashed him with an Instant kill shot in his right hand causing Neku to be set free and fall towards the ground. Shiki sees this and throws Mr. Mew at Neku making him transform into his panther form and catch Neku running back to Shiki.

 

They watched overwhelmed with fear and concern as they saw Tetsu go on a rampage slashing more and more Hunters with the Instant kill shot, before they knew it, Tetsu had now made every Hunter Fade and now had his sights on the last Players. He looked towards Neku and Shiki and charged up to him

 

“Tetsu!” Shiki screamed “Tetsu it’s me, Shiki! Neku’s here too remember?!”

 

Neku’s eyes then widened as he saw Tetsu’s eyes were pupiless and he had dog like teeth

 

“No…he’s getting Demon like again” he said quietly

 

Tetsu then pounced towards Shiki only to have Neku tackle him making the two boys roll onto the floor. He then shot his energy at Tetsu sending the enraged boy flying. He then ran on all fours up to Neku and tried to slash him over and over making Neku dodge the attacks (just barely though)

 

Neku tried to slash Tetsu to see if maybe knocking him out would help him calm down when he waked up, but Tetsu grabbed both of Neku’s hands and squeezed them generating his energy to electrocute Neku making him scream in pain.

 

“STOP IT!” Shiki screamed

 

The boys continued fighting slashing each other’s bodies with energy over and over making them both scream filled with agony. Shiki had then seen enough and ran towards them determined to make the fight stop. Neku and Tetsu were both fatigued panting out of breath, they then ran towards each other generating a massive amount of energy in their hands, Neku charged his in his right hand, and Tetsu’s in his left hand.

 

“Stop it!” Shiki screamed as she saw them run towards each other

 

She saw them run faster and faster towards each other, knowing that channeling such a huge amount of energy could kill either one of them she ran as fast as she possibly could and began to feel her eyes burn and yell as loud as she could

 

“STOP IT PLEASE! BOTH OF YOU STOOOOOOOP! STOP IIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!”

 

At that moment the two energies clashed but not with each other, instead it striked them both in the stomach impaling both of the boys making them cough up orbs

 

“N-Neku…I…what d-did I…do?” Tetsu said weakly finally regaining his senses

 

“It’s nothing Tetsu, y-you…just played the Game…you killed… all the Hunters…but you…you got angry…and lost control of…yourself” Neku said just as tired

 

“heh…that sounds…like me…Neku…

 

Tetsu then coughed up more orbs

 

“Neku, I’m sorry…all of us…are sorry…I…I just wanna s-say that…

 

As the boys talked Shiki then caught up to them and felt her eyes water seeing Tetsu and Neku impaled

 

Tetsu then looked towards Shiki and smiled

 

“I’m sorry…I-I’m just…use to…this…I’ve been here…all along…and…

 

Tetsu then feels his body begin to burn and so does Neku

 

“Nnnngh! It…it hurts Neku…Shiki…I’m sorry…I…I’m glad…that I met you…both…of you” he whispered

 

“Nnnnngh!…Tet…su Nngh… what’re you saying…don’t do this! Please…Tetsu…come on…d-don’t quit on…me…you…can’t” Neku said weakly

 

Tetsu then raised his right hand and placed it on Neku’s left shoulder

 

“I…I know Nngh…that I can never take…back what…I did but I…I just…hope that…you can…for…give…me…see…me as a …friend” he said weakly

 

Tetsu then coughed up more orbs and began to wheeze

 

Neku was also feeling fatigued causing the same thing to happen to him.

 

“Do…you?” Tetsu said hopeful

 

“Do you…for…give me?” he said just barely beyond a whisper

 

Neku then felt his eyes burn knowing what this would mean for Tetsu, he could barely even sense Tetsu anymore.

 

“Y-yeah…I…forgive…you Tetsu…I…I understand…now w-why you did that…I’m…I’m glad I met you.” Neku said smiling a little

 

Shiki then walked closer to Tetsu

 

“What about you?” he said weakly

 

“I…know saying sorry…w-won’t undo…what I….did but…

 

He then coughed up more orbs and looked at Shiki again

 

“Shi…ki…Misaki…p-please…I…I’m so…sorry” Tetsu said whispering

 

Shiki then felt her eyes water knowing what was happening to him

 

“NO! Tetsu, you have to hang in there!” she screamed

 

“and” Shiki said sadly “Yeah…I forgive you, Tetsu please don’t Fade.”

 

Tetsu then felt his close and smiled

 

“I’m glad…that you…did…and I’m glad…that I have new friends” he said weakly

 

Neku then felt a tear stream down his face

 

“Tetsu…don’t leave” he said weakly

 

“Protect…each other…support each other…no…matter what…please…it’s what… we wanted…deep down…we…liked…you…both of…you…stay strong…and win…no…matter what…

 

With his dying words now spoken Tetsu then Faded into his energy causing his instant kill shot to dissolve along with Neku‘s doing the same. Neku and Shiki watched with sadness seeing his energy dissolve until every orb of mint green energy disappeared.

 

Shiki then healed Neku’s stomach making the wound smaller and healed his wounds that were on the surface when she did this she then saw Neku’s hands were balled up into fists and that he was hanging his head.

 

“Neku?” she said confused

 

“Rrrrgh! Damn iiiiiiit! WHY?! Why did he have to…

 

Neku then squeezed his hair infuriated that Tetsu would never know what his afterlife could be like

 

“WHY DID HE HAVE TO FADE?!” Neku screamed

 

He then felt Shiki place her hand on his left shoulder

 

“Neku, you…you were just defending yourself it’s okay” she said trying to reassure him

 

“HOW?!” Neku roared

 

“How the hell is it okay?! Tetsu’s gone! You want to know why he did that?! Why he didn’t mind trying to kill you?!” Neku yelled shaking his fist

 

“It’s cause this is all he knows!" he roared

 

“What?!” Shiki said in shock

 

“THIS!” he continued “This hell of having to kill people! He never had a real afterlife! He was sent here by the Higher Ups! And his friends were too! He never had a family no one cared about him! His parents just got rid of him the moment he was born! He lived in a foster home Shiki! And when he finally had someone who cared about him, that man that took him in…WAS KILLED! And the person that murdered that man murdered Tetsu!”

 

“All he wanted was to feel like someone gave a rat’s ass about him! And now he’s gone! He’ll never know what it’s like to live free like CAT! To enjoy the moment! NO ONE LIKED DAISUKE! The only people who did…were the people who were killed cause of me! I killed Yusuke, and Mitsuru gave up her life for me! He lost everything cause of ME!” Neku screamed squeezing his hair

 

“Neku…” Shiki said weakly

 

“I…I didn’t know…I can’t believe it…that’s why he was able to toss my life away so easy…that’s why they all were like that…this is all they’ve ever known.” she said sadly

 

Shiki then felt tears go down her face and looked at her left hand to see that the timer was gone

 

She then walked closer to Neku who hid his face in his collar and hands in his pockets and stood in silence

 

“Come on Neku…it’ll be okay…let’s rest up for the next day and win this thing…for Daisuke” she said weakly

 

“Yeah…for…all of them” Neku said back

 

 

To be continued…


	8. The Last Day

Neku and Shiki then walked back to the Safe Zone in silence over what had just happened. Once they both arrived in the forest the silence continued as they walked to the cave they used to hide in. filled with a sense of grief, Neku hid his face in his funnel collar and walked with his hands in his pockets wondering what would happen next.

 

They then both sat down in the cave with Neku’s back facing Shiki. She then saw him snap his fingers recreating Neku’s running outfit and saw him squeeze the sides of his hoodie, followed by running his fingers on the V shaped cut of his shirt but then snapped his fingers, making it go back to its normal look, not wanting to ruin the clothes Shiki made for him.

 

He then looked at his left hand to see that his timer was gone and began to contemplate what would happen to him

 

“Will I even survive tomorrow? And…Mr. H…he wasn’t with the other Angels so…no…not again…I can’t do that again! CAT’s always been there for me…I…I just can’t…I can’t hurt him, and Shiki…we’re the last Players…so that means that--

 

Neku then gasped at the thought of what would happen

 

“Shiki! We’re the last Players!” he shouted

 

Shiki then hanged her head and responded

 

“Yeah…I know, Daisuke's gone so…

 

“But don’t you get what that means?!” Neku shouted standing up

 

Shiki then gasped and stood up when she made the connection

 

“No! But then we would…we’d have to really do…that? But… that doesn’t make sense!” Shiki roared

 

“When I watched you and Joshua in the Angels’ Game he didn’t die! He didn’t get killed he was able to come back with us!” She added

 

“He…he didn’t perform weakly according to the Higher Ups. But I did, if you guys hadn’t come for me when you did, interrupting my execution, then…I…

 

Neku then hanged his head

 

“Would be gone…if I had faced Soul Obstruction then…I think that’s when Mr. H and Joshua would’ve had to fight to the death or something…it just makes sense since there’s supposed to be only one person standing in the end.”

 

“Tomorrow…the last day…that’s when we’ll have to fight and--

 

“I DON’T CARE!” Shiki screamed making Neku look up at her

 

“huh?” he said weakly

 

“I’m not gonna turn against you Neku! I’m not gonna try to kill you! We’ve only gotten this far by sticking together, and there’s no way I’m gonna turn my back on you now!” Shiki said firmly

 

Neku then looked at Shiki in shock

 

“Even now? Where we have to fight to the death? You’re willing to be there for me?” he said quietly almost like a mumble

 

“Yeah” Shiki said smiling

 

She then walked closer to Neku while holding Mr. Mew against her chest

 

“We’re friends Neku, you were the first person to really see how sad and jealous I was back then, and even then, back when I felt so weak and worthless, you were there for me. We’ve gone through so much insane stuff y’know? The Reapers’ Game, saving you from your demon energy, and now this. We’ve always found a way out of life-threatening situations before Neku…so we can do it again.” Shiki said sweetly

 

Neku then smiled back feeling comfort from her words

 

“Thanks...Shiki” he said softly

 

“You’re welcome” Shiki replied

 

They then sat next to each other and held hands knowing that soon, they'd fight to the death. They stayed with their fingers wrapped around each other for a long time wanting to feel, wanting to just know that they’re near each other, to remember what they look like, feel like, and behave like. They both knew deep down that they may never feel anything ever again so they wanted to just have that last moment to acknowledge that they know each other that they’re friends. They then got up, and looked into each other's eyes filled with sadness for a few seconds before they then hugged each other, wrapped in each other's arms.

 

“I’m really glad I met you guys” Neku said sincerely

 

He then gently, and very slowly, let's go of her, releasing her from the hug and still held each other's hands and looked at each other's eyes for a few seconds again

 

“I’m glad I met you guys too, not just you Neku, but Beat and Rhyme too.” she said softly

 

“Yeah…Beat and Rhyme…they’re probably watching us right now” he added

 

Neku then lets go of her hand and scratched his neck feeling a little awkward

 

“Which means that Eri, Joshua and Taki saw this little moment too. Ugh knowing him, Joshua’s probably gonna tease me for it.”

 

Shiki then chuckled

 

“Knowing him, I wouldn’t doubt it” she said teasingly

 

They both then smiled happy to be together considering the circumstances. They then sat down together in the cave and watched the sky grow darker seeing the sunset. They both knew what this would mean for them, that soon they would fight each other and the man Neku respects, the man who’s protected him all this time, Mr. H.

 

None of them could rest, both Neku and Shiki were horrified by the very idea of having to fight him, but especially Neku.

 

He sat curled into a ball looking outside the cave along with Shiki sitting away from him giving him some space.

 

 

"Even the cave is made of crystal...not exactly a very comfortable surface to lay on. I hope Shiki is able to be comfortable" He thought a little frusterated

 

 

“Mr. H…” Neku thought again “I don’t want to do this…I can’t…I can’t hurt you. You’re my friend. The person that was always there, even before the Reapers’ Game…you and your art, CAT was there…

 

Neku then was filled with anxiety at the thought of what would happen tomorrow, and closed his eyes, picturing Mr. H's graffiti in Udagawa

 

“Back then…you were this mysterious graffiti artist, that I thought was amazing. Your slogan, to just live how you want to, to be happy by enjoying the moment…living free. You have no idea how much that meant to me at that moment Mr. Hanekoma…I thought…that I finally found someone who understands me…but now

 

Neku then felt his eyes tighten as he hated the thought of killing him

 

“I can’t kill you…I just…I can’t, you’ve been there for me always supporting me…and now they honestly expect me to just try to kill CAT? Mr. Hanekoma…I can’t do that to you…you’ve always been there…please…don’t…you’re not gonna kill me…right? I know you don’t have a choice but…CAT please…don’t do this.” Neku thought filled with grief

 

As Mr. H watched him from his hotel room, he couldn’t help but hang his head. Being the kind man he is, it was making him sad to know how much it was tearing Neku apart at the thought of having to fight him to the death again.

 

“Phones…Neku…I’m so sorry but…tomorrow I have to act like you’re my prey, not my friend. I’ll have to fight you both…with the intent to kill” Mr. H thought sadly

 

Akemi then walked into his room and with a serious and intense look on her face

 

“Sanae, you know what you have to do don’t you?” she said darkly

 

“Yeah…it’s just us now…heh heh. Out of all the years I’ve played this Game, this is the part I’ve always hated. It makes it a lot harder when I have to kill a human soul so up close and personal like this” Mr. H replied

 

“Be that as it may, I’ll have to go to the Slaughter room now, it’s come down to just you Sanae. Make sure to put on a good show for the Higher Ups, cause you know what they’ll do if you are deemed weak. Also, remember what we talked about, you can’t hesitate Sanae. You must kill the Proxy and that girl.” Akemi said slyly

 

“I know…I thought that we were supposed to help him, that this Game was to help him improve so he can endure what it takes to achieve God Status. At this rate…it’ll all be for nothing. You don’t think the Higher Ups really want him to Fade do you?” Mr. H said laid back hiding his concerns

 

“Of course they want him to survive, but if he lets his attachment towards you interfere with the Game then he’ll be easier to kill, at that moment you will have no choice but to do so.” Akemi said seriously

 

“Just don’t hold back Sanae, it’d be a shame if you were deemed too weak.” she said cautioning him

 

“I know…thanks…Akemi” Mr. H said seriously

 

She then teleports back to the slaughter room and joins the stands along with the other Angels and Composers in their human forms.

 

“Neku…Shiki, please be careful” Eri thought

 

The sun began to set and it had finally become night time. Neku then turns towards Shiki to talk to her but he sees that she had fallen asleep

 

“Good” he thought “She’ll need to rest if we’re gonna go up against Mr. H tomorrow. I don’t care what happens, I don’t care if Shiki’s a Player…I’m not gonna try to kill her…but…do I really have a choice? What if I…no it’s not gonna go down that way…I’m not gonna do that to her again…but…

 

Neku then squeezed his hair filled with frustration

 

“Rrrgh! What if I HAVE to kill her?! What if Mr. H doesn’t attack me until I kill her! I…Rrrgh! Screw that! I can’t do that to Shiki…I can’t kill Mr. H either.!” he screamed in his head

 

He then lets go of his hair and stared at the floor

 

“Should I do it? Should I stall time…so the timer can reach zero? If that happens I’ll get a free pass out of the Game…but Shiki…what would happen to her?”

 

“I can’t risk it” he said out loud

 

“CAT” he said weakly “I don’t want to fight you…there has to be another way...right?”

 

Neku wanted to get some rest alongside Shiki, but he couldn’t. He was filled with such a sense of worry and anxiety that he didn’t want to sleep all he could do was stare outside the cave watching the sky become brighter. As he did, he felt his right shoulder begin to sting.

 

“Nnngh!…no…not again.” he said weakly

 

He then squeezed his shoulder as he felt the burning increase. Due to how the extra locks on the Player seal were gone Anthony went even deeper making thicker cracks in the seal making Neku whimper in pain as more and more of the seal was torn away making it barely look the same anymore.

 

The extra locks were gone, and the wings that were outside the circle of the design were all cracked with huge chunks of the wings being gone, and there were cracks in the center of the seal too.

 

“Stop” Neku said weakly

 

He knew that if this continued Anthony would have full access to his demon energy again, making Neku lose the control he once had on the Demon energy thanks to Shiki.

 

The burning increased more and more making Neku cringe from the intense pain. He clenched his teeth desperately fighting the urge to scream from the pain, so he could let Shiki sleep.

 

“Nnnnnnnnngh! Stop it…it…it hurts!” Neku said filled with agony

 

The cracks then grew deeper in the center making the circle become huge chunks of torn shapes on his shoulder instead of a circle and the demon energy's power began to increase causing Neku to feel his shoulder burn.

 

“Just a little more, then I’ll have full access, and thankfully, since other spirits have had their energy start to destabilize them through panic or anxiety surging inside them, the Higher Ups won't suspect a thing.” Anthony thought smiling as he watched Neku from the demon realm.

 

As Neku endured the stinging of the energy burning him, the sun began to rise making it dawn. As Shiki slept and slowly began to wake up she heard Neku panting from feeling so exhausted and hurt.

 

“Stop it…Nnnnngh…S-Stop…Nnngh…I…I can’t” he said weakly

 

Shiki then opened her eyes as she heard him begin to whimper from the pain again.

 

“Neku?” she said in a groggy voice

 

Anthony then instantly stopped so Shiki wouldn’t catch on to what he was doing, making it easier for the Soul Stealers to drain his energy.

 

“Huh? It stopped?” Neku thought

 

“You okay?” Shiki said concerned as she got to her feet

 

“Yeah…” Neku said weakly as he also got up letting go of his shoulder

 

“Shiki” Neku said quietly

 

“I’m not gonna do this…if we play this Game again then…we…we’ll have to kill each other. You know that…don’t you?” he asked

 

“Yeah…but Neku…there’s nothing we can do, we don’t have a choice!” Shiki yelled concerned

 

“Yes we do!” he roared back shaking his fist

 

“remember how we got to Mr. H and Joshua in the Enlighten District? You know, back when Clarissa’s War started?” he said hoping Shiki would catch on

 

“I remember. We made a portal, focusing on how we had to go there to end the war…but Neku…that was done in our Enlighten forms…and we can’t do a Soul Surge thanks to these Player Seals.” she said weakly

 

“I know but…there has to be something we can do! I’m not gonna fight you or Mr. H!” Neku said strongly

 

He then hanged his head and his hands in his pockets

 

“I…can’t…I can’t kill you…either of you.” he said weakly

 

“Neku…I don’t want to do that either but…do you really think we can? I mean there’s a barrier or something here in the Blank Void right? Otherwise Players would’ve tried this a long time ago.” Shiki said sadly

 

“Yeah…Beat was able to break through a wall in the Reapers’ Game…and that’s not suppose to happen…so…maybe I can do that too.” he said raising his head looking at her.

 

Seeing the intensity in his eyes Shiki knew he had his mind made up, she then sighed trying to calm down and not be so nervous. She couldn’t help but feel that way since neither of them know what would happen if they tried this.

 

“Okay…no matter what happens…let’s just…do whatever we can to get out.” Shiki said weakly

 

Neku then nodded his head in understanding glad that Shiki’s supporting him.

 

They then began to walk out of the cave and felt their timers go off.

 

“Nnngh!” Neku grunted

 

They both then looked at their timers in shock

 

“10:53” Shiki said aloud

 

“Ignore the timer. Remember Shiki, we’re not playing this now” Neku said sternly

 

“yeah, so we have to do this fast!” Shiki exclaimed

 

“Well then let’s go! We can’t waste time” Neku remarked

 

They then started to run deeper in the forest determined to escape, unaware that the Soul Stealers were following them. Being fully aware of their plan Mr. H teleported to the Blank void and waited for them to eventually leave the forest entering the playing field.

 

They ran as fast at they could hoping to bump into a wall so Neku could try blasting it open. They ran towards yet another steep hill, causing Shiki to throw Mr. Mew who became his panther form.

 

The two Players then leaped onto the panther holding onto him as he ran down the steep hill. They then headed even deeper into the forest running past the lake that Neku and Shiki rolled down to.

 

The Panther ran faster and faster drastically increasing its speed until finally they saw sun rays shined through the canopy of the forest causing Neku and Shiki to look at each other intensely/P>

 

“Almost there” he thought

 

The panther then finally ran out of the forest into the blank void and suddenly bumped into something making it stop in its tracks.

 

“This is it!” Shiki yelled

 

“Let‘s go” Neku added

 

They both then leaped off of the panther and Neku charged up the Instant kill shot in his right hand.

 

“You think that’ll work?” Shiki said curiously

 

“Yeah, I mean this is an Angel technique, so it has to be able to break this thing” Neku said sternly

 

He then placed his hand out in front of him and felt what felt like a wall of glass (like placing one’s hand on an extremely large mirror) he then struck the instant kill shot at the wall making sparks go flying as the energy clashed with the wall.

 

“C’mon! Break!” Neku yelled

 

He then focused more energy into his right hand by clenching his hand into a fist making the instant kill shot thicken and increase in size. He then extended his hand out further to the wall desperate to break it, but trying to increase an already extremely powerful Angel technique was starting to take its toll on Neku making him whimper as he began to feel his hand burn.

 

“Neku! You have to stop! This is hurting you!” Shiki said concerned

 

“Rrrrgh! I…Nnnngh! I d-don’t care!” Neku snarled

 

He then began to pant as the pain lead to fatigue, he pushed the instant kill shot even deeper causing the sparks to increase in size, making his hand tremble as the instant kill shot began to become unstable and his running clothes dissolved back to his usual J of M clothes.

 

“Nnnnnnngh!…I…can’t break it?! Dammit! No! I’m not gonna…

 

Neku then began to pant extremely heavily almost wheezing from the pain he felt as he began to drain himself of energy.

 

“Neku! Please stop! You have to stop!” Shiki yelled worried

 

“I…Nngh! I can’t…if…if I do then…we--

 

Neku’s instant kill shot then dissolved and he felt himself nearly collapse only to catch himself by squeezing his right arm, wheezing in pain.

 

“It’s not worth it Neku! Not if you have to hurt yourself like this!” Shiki said overwhelmed with grief

 

She then placed her hand on his shoulder and began healing him making him let go of his right arm. As the energy healed him his panting got quieter until he stopped finally feeling better.

 

Neku then hanged his head

 

“I don’t want to fight. I...I can't, not like this. Shiki...I’m sorry” he said weakly

 

Shiki then held his hand and squeezed it

 

“You tried everything you could Neku, it’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up over this…if we have to fight then…we’ll just have to stall time. It’ll be okay” she said sweetly

 

Before Neku could even respond Shiki gasped and became extremely pale, seeing that someone had teleported to them. Hearing her gasp made Neku look up and become extremely pale as well.

 

“no…Mr. Hanekoma…don’t…don’t do this!” Neku said nervously

 

They both saw their mentor, their friend at full blast and saw him extending out his wings to their full length reaching 12 feet. He then raised his left hand creating energy that surged like lightning, and fired the lightning at them making Neku look at his Guardian friend in shock

 

“CAT…” Neku whispered

 

Seeing the lightning fly towards him Shiki pulled Neku towards her and they immediately ran away from Mr. H. as they ran away from him with Mr. Mew following, the Angel then flew at them as a blur of white energy from the corner of Neku’s eye making him caught off guard as he and Shiki were sent flying from the blast.

 

While suspended in the air, Mr. H then flew at them slashing them over and over making them scream in pain. The Angel then became a giant orb if energy and exploded sending Neku and Shiki crashing to the ground.

 

“NO!” Beat screamed “PHONES! SHIKI! YOU GOTTA GET UP YO!”

 

As they both trembled from the pain as they tried to get up, Neku felt someone pull him up by his funnel collar, and looked at his opponent wide-eyed.

 

“Nnngh! Mr. H…stop…why…why are you doing this?” Neku whimpered

 

But he didn’t answer. It would hurt Mr. H more to have to treat Neku like his friend then mere prey to hunt. But even so, he was still filled with turmoil for having to hurt them.

 

Mr. H then focused his energy and electrocuted Neku making him scream in pain. Due to how powerful he is, Mr. H’s lightning was also simultaneously burning Neku tearing up his skin and clothes in addition to shocking him.

 

“NEKUUUUU!” Shiki screamed

 

She then ran towards Mr. H only to have a clone appear behind her and tackle her to the ground, electrocuting her too making her cry and scream from the pain too making her skin and clothes torn making her unconscious too. The real Mr. H then dropped Neku onto the floor making him land on his right shoulder unconscious.

 

Mr. H then walked towards him charging up the instant kill shot in his right hand. as he did this, Shiki began to regain consciousness and saw Mr. H approaching Neku.

"I have to kill him" Mr. H thought "he's stronger than Shiki so then I'll...have to go after her"

she then opened her eyes to see Mr. H raise his hand preparing to strike.

"Neku!" Shiki screamed

she then struggled to get away but the Mr. H clone then electrocuted her again. this then caused Mr. Mew to become its panther form and attack the clone of Mr. H, slashing through the angel clone making it be ripped to shreds. as she tried to hang on, she focused on her panther and then fused with it.

 

then at that moment, the Panther's eyes glowed pink and ran towards Neku. as it did, Mr. H then lowered his instant kill shot only to be tackled by the panther, knocking him away from Neku. Shiki then removed herself from the Panther and ran to Neku. when she finally got to him, she then laid on her knees and healed Neku causing his eyes to feel less heavy as he awoke.

"Nnngh! Shiki?" Neku whispered "Why? Why did you--

Shiki then smiled a little, happy to see him awake.

"Mr. H...being a Hunter now, he was about to kill you Neku. so I merged with Mr. Mew's panther form and knocked hims away from you, then I got here to heal you" she replied

Neku then tried to get up but felt his body tremble with pain, as Shiki was about to help him get up, they saw in a split second, a massive white orb outlined in gray come and crash into them making them go flying back before landing on the ground unconscious.

 

He then picked up Neku be the back of his funnel collar and the clone picked up Shiki by the back of her shirt and they placed the two players beside each other, tossing the now torn Mr. Mew (with cotton sticking out of it) next to her and flew a few feet from them.

he then charged up instant kill shots in both of his hands. as he did Neku awoke and saw Mr. H point the instant kill shots at them. as tired as he was, Neku struggled to get to his feet, determined to protect Shiki.

 

"Mr. H don't!" Neku cried

Mr. H then felt his eyes water with a tear going down his left cheek

"I have too" he said sadly

he then fired them causing Neku to place his hands out infront of him with his eyes closed

"No!" Neku screamed

he then generated a dome of energy to shield him and Shiki, whimpering as the two instant kill shots slashed the barrier

"Nnnngh!...Damn it" Neku muttered

Mr. H then fired Angel energy at the barrier causing Neku to close his eyes even tighter desperate to keep the barrier of his energy up.

 

"I'm not letting us die like this" he thought pushing himself

 

Sensing his determination to protect Shiki, and see his barrier begin to surge like fire, Mr. H lets out a little smile.

 

"He really is such a strong kid" Mr. H thought

 

His smile then vanishes and Mr. H unleashes a punch sending out a powerful blast of energy on par with a bomb. Neku then placed his feet firmly against the ground bracing himself for the attack and the moment the Angel energy hit his his barrier, he then screamed in pain opening his right eye to see Mr. H startled at him holding back the energy, even if for a few seconds and then caused it to break, and blast Neku back unconcious again. Mr. H then picked up Neku by the back of his collar and laid him next to Shiki. She then opened her eyes and a few minutes later, Neku opened his eyes and they looked at each other filled with fatigue and managed to get up. the moment they did Neku and Shiki felt something zap their right hands

 

Neku then looked at a message written in Angel energy being light gray with the letters being white outlined in dark gray.

"Only one remains" he said darkly

At that moment they knew what Mr. H was trying to tell them. They had to fight to the death…only one person would make it out of the Game and since trying to kill them at once wasn't working, Mr. H now hid himself to see who will die first. Neku and Shiki both felt their eyes water as they generated energy.

 

“NOOOOO! Neku don’t do it! DON’T!” Eri shouted

 

“I have…to” Neku said weakly

 

As he prepared to attack Shiki he felt his hands shake and saw Shiki's hands tremble too…he just couldn’t bring himself to hurt his friend. Seeing this as their chance to attack, the Soul Stealers started to drain Neku’s energy making the energy in his hands dissolve, making Mr. H look at Neku in shock seeing him filled with fatigue that quickly

 

“No…Anthony didn’t really do that right? Or is this from me attacking him earlier?” Mr. H thought worried

 

Neku then felt extremely weak causing him to nearly collapse squeezing his knees with both of his hands, panting out of breath.

 

“Neku!” Shiki said worried

 

She then lets her energy dissolve and run up to him.

 

One of the Soul Stealers had then placed their hand on Neku’s back making him pant even heavier as he was getting his energy sucked out of him.

 

When Shiki finally got to Neku she saw his legs give out causing him to nearly faceplant on the ground, only to catch himself with his hands.

 

“Nnnnnngh!” Neku grunted in pain

 

“Neku?” Rhyme said with her eyes watering

 

“Rhyme” Neku whispered from hearing her

 

“I can’t move…it…it hurts” he said weakly

 

Shiki then looked at her timer

 

8: 23

 

“Neku…I…I can’t kill you. I can’t fight you I’ll make you better and--

 

Seeing how no matter what, neither of them could kill each other, Mr. H then uncloaked himself

 

She then sees Mr. H walk towards them with an instant kill shot charged in his right hand

 

“NOOOOOOO!” Shiki screamed

 

She then stood in front of Neku shielding him

 

“Mr. H! I know you don’t want to do this! Stop, please stop this!” Shiki screamed pleading with him

 

“I can’t” Mr. H said darkly

 

He then pushed Shiki out of the way and generated a clone to hold on to her

 

“NO! Stop it!” Shiki screamed

 

Mr. H then walked closer and was filled with remorse flashing back to the times he and Neku shared in the Higher Plane and the UG.

 

He remembered when he and Neku teleported to other dimensions and how Neku was filled with grief in the destroyed Shibuya, wanting to run away from his friends feeling like they’d be better off without him

 

“Phones you don’t mean this right? Please tell me you don’t cause then I don’t think even Angel energy can heal you now, making you so unreachable. Do you really want to leave all your friends, including me?”

 

“yes” Neku answered

 

“please don’t do this to yourself! What about enjoying the moment?”

 

“I can’t enjoy the moment knowing everyone is in danger of Fading away while trying to protect me” Neku said coldly

 

Mr. H then flashed back to how he helped Neku feel better

 

“Don’t throw CAT away. You still like my art right?” Mr. H said to him

 

“yeah…CAT…CAT’s always been there, even before I died in Udagawa. Thanks…Mr. H” Neku said weakly

 

“Don’t mention it Neku, as a Guardian Angel, graffiti artist, and friend, I’ll always be there to protect you. It’s my job to do so, but it’s also cause I want to Neku.” Mr. H said smiling

 

He then flashed back to when he first met Neku in the UG and remembered telling Neku to apologies to Shiki for nearly killing her. Something that he remembered being amused by.

 

And flashed back to when he saved Neku from nearly being killed by Clarissa the first time they met, how he was standing in front of Neku shielding him with his Angel wings.

 

“I’m so sorry kiddo” Mr. H thought as he walked up to Neku

 

Feeling his hands give out, Neku laid on the ground wheezing in pain as he saw Mr. H walk towards him

 

“Mr. Hane…ko…ma” Neku whispered

 

 

He then picked up the beaten boy by his funnel collar with his left hand and had three more clones appear and fired their energy at Neku, alongside the real Mr. H making Neku wail a cry of agony as the Angel's energy burned his body.

 

"Phones, is an amazing kid. he's very strong...not physically, but mentally. it's because of this that he was able to endure pain in the Reapers' Game, and his tolerance to Pain has increased even further. but everyone has a limit...I'm so sorry Phones...Neku, please forgive me. I have to push you beyond your limit" Mr. H thought filled with sorrow

 

Mr. H and his clones then all increased the power of their energy making it become lightning, making Neku scream as the energy burned his clothes and body getting cuts all over his body and his skin being torn to the point his energy leaked out of him.

 

"MR. HANEKOMAAAA!" Neku wailed

 

"I'm sorry" Mr. H said softly

 

he then snapped his fingers with his right hand, making the clones dissolve and created the Instant Kill Shot in the same hand. he then lets his Angel lightning dissolve making Neku's screams lessen until he was barely conscious, and dropped him, making Neku land on his right shoulder again

 

Mr. H then pointed the instant kill shot at Neku knowing what this would mean for him, Mr. H was filled with sadness knowing that he’s about to kill his friend.

 

Neku, with his eyes halfway open, realizing he was about to Fade closed his eyes and quoted Mr. H

 

“Enjoy…every moment…with all…your might, whether it’s…gloomy…whether…it’s…bright” Neku said weakly

 

“Phones?” Mr. H said weakly

 

Neku then opened his eyes making them halfway open again and looked at his timer (as much as it hurt him to move his arm, to the point it trembled as he struggled to keep it infront of him) his hand then dropped to the floor and he looked at the Guardian Angel

 

“T-Time’s ….running…out…Mr. ...Hane...Nnngh! Hane...koma” Neku said weakly seeing that there’s only four minuets left

 

To see him in so much pain, so drained that he could barely say Mr. H's last name filled the Angel with a sense of grief to the point it was heartache making his eyes water again

 

“I have to do it…if I don’t then the Higher Ups could kill me” Mr. H thought

 

“I…I’m so sorry Phones…can I ask you something?” Mr. H said weakly

 

“W-What…what is it?” Neku answered

 

“Do you hold this against me?” Mr. H asked

 

“No…you…you’re just…doing what you can…to…sur…vive” Neku whispered

 

Soul Stealers (seeing that Mr. H was struggling to kill Neku) began to drain his energy again making dozens of orbs fly out of him

 

“Nnnnnngh! It…it hurts!” Neku whimpered

 

More cloaked Soul Stealers placed their hands on Neku draining him of his energy making Neku’s eyes become blurry as he wheezed in pain

 

“Phones!” Mr. H shouted

 

“I don’t wanna die” Neku whispered

 

As fatigued as he was, Neku tried to get up, only to feel his arms begin to shake making Neku whimper in pain as smacked onto the floor again laying on his right shoulder. Mr. H then kneeled down to Neku filled with sad eyes.

 

“I’ll make the pain stop Neku” Mr. H said sadly

 

Shiki then felt her eyes water feeling helpless unable to break away from Mr. H’s clone.

 

She then looked at her piggy and was determined to not just stand there and watch Neku Fade

 

She tried to break free squirming as Mr. H’s clone held her tightly. Shiki then looked at Neku as her eyes widened as Mr. H raised his hand getting ready to strike Neku with the energy.

 

“Please…don’t” Neku whispered barely able to speak

 

“I’m sorry” Mr. H said sadly with a tear going down his left cheek

 

As the Guardian lowered his hand filled with grief, he then felt someone tackle him, making the instant kill shot dissolve. He then looked in shock as the Panther that tackled him had pink eyes and roared at him

 

“Shiki?” he thought

 

Mr. H then sighed

"that won't work again" he said grimly

the Angel then blasted Panther Mr. Mew reverting it back to a toy with Angel energy sending Shiki flying out of the toy. the moment she did, the Mr. H clone then tackled Shiki to the ground and blasted energy from himself to her, making her scream.

"NO!" Shiki thought "I'm not gonna let this happen again!"

Shiki then focused and sent a massive blast of her energy knocking the Mr. H close away. being weakened from the exposition of Shiki's energy (due to her being in a state of adrenaline) the clone then dissolved, returning to Mr. H.

she then ran to Mr. H and blasted him with energy launching five beams of energy at him, being focused on Neku but still sensing her, he then turns around only to be blasted with each energy beam, making him get sent far away from Neku, disappearing to watch them again, to kill the last spirit remaining. Shiki then ran to Neku and laid her hand on Neku's shoulder healing him. but now, doing so got her dizzy from draining so much of her energy.

she then sees Neku wake up

"Nnngh! Wha...what's going on...where's Mr. H?and...why did you heal me if we're suppose to fight each other?" he said weakly

Neku then tried to get up, causing Shiki to wrap her arm around his shoulder to help him get up

"I don't know, I blasted him with my energy...and..Nngh! as for your other question that's cause…I know…that only one of us is gonna make it out of here…just like the Reapers’ Game.” she said sweetly letting go of him

 

“What?” Neku said weakly still confused

 

“I don’t want to have an eternity knowing that I was helpless…that I watched you die and there was nothing I could do…if this is how it has to be then…I’ll fight Neku.” she said strongly

 

Neku’s eyes then widened realizing what she wanted

 

“NO!” Neku roared shaking his fist“Shiki! If we fight then…I’ll have to kill you! You KNOW that right?!”

 

She then backed away from him and looked at her toy, making it become a panther

 

Shiki then closed her eyes and placed her hands on her head mimicking Neku’s focusing pose

 

“Shiki?” Neku said startled

 

“Open up your senses”

 

Shiki then opened her eyes and revealed them to be blue-gray, just like him. And she had a purplish-blue aura around him and lowered her hands back to he side.

 

“I may not be as strong as you…but now I can mimic you…fight like you Neku…at least now…I know I won’t Fade so easily…cause the person that would obviously win…is you.” she said weakly

 

“Shiki STOP! You don’t need to do this! I’m not gonna fight you to the death! How the HELL can you even say that?!” Neku roared

 

“Because, the Higher Ups said it themselves Neku, you’re the one that can kill Anthony. You’re strong enough to become the Ultimate God Neku…I know you can do it so…

 

She then looks down at her timer

 

2:00

 

“We have to Neku…there isn’t any other way, you’re strong enough to kill me…I’m…weaker than you Neku.” she said with her voice breaking fighting back tears

 

“Shiki!” Taki screamed

 

“Shiki please don’t do this! You don’t need to fight! PLEASE!” Eri screamed with her eyes watering

 

“I’m sorry guys…but Neku needs to be the last one standing…

 

She then felt tears go down her face

 

“I don’t wanna die” she said weakly

 

She then took a deep breath and sighed

 

Shiki then raised her head, and clenched her right hand into a fist creating the instant kill shot for the first time.

 

“Shiki…don’t” Neku said heart broken #147;I can’t kill you”

 

Neku then hanged his head and felt his hands tremble as they were balled up into fists.

 

“I can’t kill you…any of you…I can’t hurt Mr. H or you…Shiki…please stop.” Neku yelled

 

He then saw in his head the duel between him and Joshua, how he felt his arms shake as he was filled with rage against Joshua.

 

“I can’t” Neku whispered

 

Shiki then ran towards him with her instant kill shot

 

“You can do this Neku!” she shouted

 

“Phones! You gotta fight back yo!” Beat shouted

 

As Shiki’s foot steps got louder from her getting closer to him, Neku knew now that Shiki was purposely doing this, to MAKE him fight. She knows that he has to do it…and he knows this too.

 

Neku then raised his head and blasted energy at her causing her to run right into it sending her flying back, making her instant kill shot dissolve. She then goes rolling onto the ground from the impact and immediately got to her feet.

 

Neku then closed his eyes in his usual focusing pose and opened them to create a skateboard and spray paint cans. He then leaped onto the board and held the spray paint cans behind him and shot fire to propel himself at her.

 

When he picked up enough speed he then leaped into the air and held his hand out towards her summoning a music staff for him to surf on, as it spiraled down towards Shiki (in a corkscrew shape) and summoned music notes to rain down on Shiki.

 

She then dodges the music staff and created a dome of her purple blue energy and blasted it pushing the music notes back at Neku and created a massive explosion that was sent towards Neku, he then shields his face expecting for it to hit him, but it dissolved missing him by a few inches

 

“Huh? It…it didn’t hit me? Shiki…she can’t do it either…” he thought

 

They then ran towards each other with Mr. Mew clones (five to be exact) all flying towards him, as they ran towards each other, the Mr. Mew clones would attempt to swipe Neku causing him to lean his body in different ways to dodge the toy’s attacks making Panther Mr. Mew pounce at Neku, making him blast energy at it making the panther land on the ground and revert back to a toy. Shiki then tapped into her Seamstress abilities and began to pull a part of her green shirt off of her.

 

Neku watched in awe as she tore part of her left sleeve off and made it a whip.

 

Neku then felt his eyes widen at the thought of what she would do with that whip

 

“Shiki…stop…please stop!” Neku yelled

 

Shiki then felt her eyes water

 

“I can’t” she said weakly

 

She then looked back at her timer

 

1:00

 

“Neku…I don’t wanna die…but…you have to win the Game” she said weakly

 

She then ran towards Neku and attempted to whip him, making Neku slash through the whip with his energy. he then fires four beams of energy at her only to have her dodge the beams. she then leaped at Neku only to get pushed back by him. Hating to do this, she then teleported behind Neku and generated her instant kill shot again. sensing her energy, Neku charged his instant kill shot and turned around.

the two friends then looked at each other with sad eyes, pointing their deadly pointed energy at eachother's necks. they were both severely wounded and both felt like they were about to pass out. Shiki was then about to let her instant kill shot dissolve, allowing Neku to hit her, making tears go down her face,only to see him nearly pass out again

 

“Nnngh! Wha…why do I…

 

He then felt himself squeeze his knees panting out of breath. Soul Stealers began to drain Neku’s energy again making him weak. He then felt his body tremble from the pain as he fell to his knees panting even harder

 

Neku then squeezed his right shoulder as he felt it burn again, Anthony was finally going to the center of Neku’s Seal.

 

“Rrrrgh! S-Stop! Nnnnnngh! D-Don't do this!” Neku screamed

 

“No! Neku what’s wrong?!” she shouted

 

Mr. H then uncloaked himself again walked towards Neku seeing this as a way to make him no longer suffer. He knew in the long run that as long as he was a Hunter in the Game, he’d have to kill any Player the moment they seem weak

 

Shiki then looked at Mr. H and ran towards Neku

 

“Mr. H don’t! don’t hurt him!” Shiki screamed

 

Neku whimpered in pain even more as his shoulder burned even stronger

 

“AAAAAAH! What’re…you d-doing?!” Neku yelled

 

The seal began to tear more and more until the wings were completely gone, all that was left was the cracked circle design.

 

Mr. H and Shiki then immediately stopped running filled with shock to see a black aura around Neku. He was filled with so much pain that he clenched his stomach with his left hand.

 

He then lets go of his stomach and looks at his timer

 

30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24...

 

“It’s over Neku” Anthony said telepathically smiling at his portal

 

“Just a little longer and I’ll be able to overwhelm you with demon energy.”

 

Neku then felt himself fall landing on his right shoulder

 

“Nnngh! Stop…I can‘t…take…this” Neku whispered

 

He then felt his eyes become extremely heavy

 

“Neku!” Joshua shouted

 

“huh?” Neku exclaimed as he felt his eyes open more becoming alert

 

“You’re in control, you have control over your demon energy. Anthony can only do so much, you’re better than this Neku.” Joshua added

 

As much as it was hurting him to move Neku tried to push himself upward. Mr. H then became his human form and watched to analyze what was happening to Neku's seal and his energy

 

“You really think that just because you can control your demon energy that your immune to me? I can easily break you.” Anthony said mentally

 

As Neku struggled to push himself up he then felt himself drop to the floor, and tried again, only to have the same result.

 

“Come on Phones get up” Beat said strongly

 

Anthony then unleashed more of Neku’s demon energy making him scream as he started to get slashes on his body

 

Neku then looked at his left hand through his left eye

 

“Nnngh…fifteen…seconds” he whispered

 

Neku then held out his left hand creating an orb of his energy, only for it to turn black

 

“No matter how much control you have over your demon energy I can easily take it all away” Anthony said to Neku

 

He then felt his body tremble as Anthony forced him to get up, once Neku was standing up he then fired the demon energy at Mr. H causing him to hold out his hand slowing the orb as it flew to him.

 

Mr. H then clenched his hand into a fist and blew up the orb. At that moment Neku felt extremely dizzy and nearly passed out making him hold his right arm for support. at that moment, Anthony snapped his fingers making Neku scream as a black aura blazed around him as he grew demon skin, making Neku squeeze his hair as the pain intensified. the screams then stopped causing Mr. H to run to Neku and catch him before passing out

 

“Mr. ...Nnnngh!...Hane…ko…ma” Neku whispered

 

“Easy there Phones, don’t move around too much” Mr. H said concerned

 

He then closed his eyes and began to heal Neku making the black aura, slashes on his body, and demon skin disappear. the only demonic part that remained was that Neku had blank red irises again

 

Neku then looked up at his Guardian friend, happy that he was there for him, yet looked at Mr. H in shock, filled with disbelief that he was risking himself looking weak in the Game

The timer began to go down to its last seconds, as it did, the Higher Ups began to discuss who performed the weakest in battle.

 

Anthony then looked towards the portal and waited

 

00:10, 00:9, 00:8, 00:7, 00:6,00:5,00:4,00:3,00:2, 00:1

 

Neku and Shiki then had their timers disappear with him now fully healed, with all physical wounds gone, with his energy also restored and his demon energy neutralized. Mr. H then lets go of Neku glad to see he can stand on his own again but at that moment the Higher Ups appeared, making Neku gasp fearful of what they might do to him.

 

Aiden then looked at each one of them

 

“In all honesty, I don’t know what to say, based off of what we all saw, all of you should Fade for being unable to each other. However, Sanae Hanekoma unlike the rest of you at least attempted to fulfill his duty as a Hunter.” he said sternly

 

“So based off of what we saw, the one who was the weakest, the one who barley survived and recieved the deepest wounds was you Neku Sakuraba.” the Head Maestro said looking directly at him

 

“What?! But you said that I--

 

“Yes that you would get a pass out of the Angels’ Game” Aiden continued “it’s because of this, that now someone must fill your place Neku. After all, there’s only suppose to be one person left in this Game”

 

Neku then became extremely pale

 

“But then what does that mean?! what’re you going to do?!” Neku shouted

 

“Target the one willing to take your place” he said darkly

 

Realizing what this meant, Neku then instantly looked behind him

 

Shiki then became pale too and began to back away

 

He then saw the other Maestros teleport to Shiki charging up massive columns of energy causing him to run up to Shiki and got in his fighting stance

 

“No! don’t you touch her!” Neku shouted shaking his fist, with color restored to his face

 

“There’s nothing you can do. Once Shiki Misaki Fades, we’ll have you leave and train to achieve God Status.” Aiden announced

 

“No! I’m not gonna let you kill her!” Neku screamed

 

“You’re going to refuse? Are you willing to challenge us? little Fledgling? Do you really believe that you, a mere little ghost, the weakest form of energy, could actually fight me?" the Head Maestro said in a deep voice

 

“Neku don’t!” Shiki screamed “You can’t fight them! Don’t do it!”

 

Filled with a sense of urgency his friends all called out to him too

 

“Phones, don’t do it yo! You can’t! You ain’t strong enough to take ‘em on man!” Beat yelled

 

“Neku calm down! We’re finally friends again, after us not seeing each other in years! C’mon man don’t do this!” Taki screamed

 

“Please Neku don’t fight them! I don’t want you to Fade!” Eri added

 

“Please don’t do it Neku!” Rhyme shouted

 

“Neku…if you do this…they’ll kill you” Joshua said sternly

 

“But what about Shiki?!” Neku yelled back “I can’t let them kill her!”

 

“So then what will it be Neku? Will you give up your life, and die for her instead?” Aiden asked

 

Neku then got out of his fighting stance and hanged his head

 

“I don’t wanna lose any of them” he said weakly

 

Neku then flashed back to when Joshua told him how he’ll lose his friends in the long run, that the only way they’d be friends forever is by being dead

 

“But…I don’t wanna die” Neku said clasping his shoulder

 

“Head Maestro...sir, is there…a way to make an exception? Shiki she…she’s like a guitar amp for my energy…it’s something I learned when I first got to the Higher Plane, she knows how to neutralize Demon energy and…she knows how to make my energy stronger…my friends...they all do.” Neku said feeling sad

 

“See. when a guitar is plugged to an amp it makes the sound louder, and stronger allowing you to make the guitar sound intense through distortion. My friends…they’re like that for me. Whenever I feel like crap, like I can’t do anything…that I’m gonna die, I just think about pushing myself a little harder…so I can be with them again, and survive.”

 

He then hid his hands in his pockets feeling them tremble at the thought of losing them

 

“Please…don’t take that away. I…I’ve got friends now. For this first time in my life, I’ve met people, connected to them, and…understood them. If you take that away from me, it’d be like I never played the Reapers’ Game. Honorable...head Maestro...sir…I know you wouldn’t understand what I’m talking about…but please…can’t you make exception? It’s your Game...right?” he said feeling heartache

 

He then saw images of his friends all Fading away in his head, that he was alone

 

Sensing this sadness Mr. H then placed his hand on Neku’s left shoulder making him look up at him he then sees Mr. H smiling at him

 

“It’ll be okay Phones” Mr. H said telepathically

 

Aiden then looked at the other Mestros and they walked away from Neku, Shiki and Mr. H, once they were at a certain distance, Aiden talked to the other Maestros

 

“It’s clear that without them, Neku feels helpless sir” Amonae said

 

“Yes, in order for the boy to try to achieve God Status he’ll need them as a sort of way to motivate him” Ryu added

 

“I agree with the others Head Maestro, clearly the little Fledgling’s Pact from the Underground has empowered him even more now that his Soul is free from his body” Yuki added

 

Aiden then nodded his head in agreement

 

“those are all very valid points. Alright, I’ve made my decision” Aiden said to them

 

He and the other Maestros then walked over to Neku

 

“Neku Sakuraba, we have come to a decision.” Aiden said sternly causing Neku to look at him

 

“We are aware that your Pact to your Partners in the UG have greatly affected you, as well as your new friends like Eri and Rhyme, it is because of this that we will carry Shiki onto your free pass” Aiden said smiling

 

“R-Really?” Neku said surprised

 

Shiki then walked next to him

 

“You really mean it?” Shiki added

 

“Yes. it’s clear to us now that Neku wouldn’t even attempt to achieve God Status if he didn’t have something worth protecting. Isn’t that right little Fledgling?” Aiden added

 

Neku then felt extremely awkward and embarrassed scratched his neck

 

“I…um…I guess you could say that” Neku said bashfully causing Shiki to giggle

 

Neku’s other friends then all smiled at each other (with the exception of Joshua) who smiled at the portal watching over him

 

Aiden and the other Maestros then walked through a portal that Ryu had opened and then Neku, Shiki and Mr. H all walked through it too. When they entered the Slaughter room Amonae then removed Shiki’s Seal and went back to the judges bench

 

Aiden and the other Maestros then looked at each other and nodded in agreement

 

“Let it be known that this was special circumstances, Neku Sakuraba and now Shiki Misaki have passed the Angels’ Game and been forgiven of their crimes” he declared

 

As the witnesses, all stood up to bow to them as a sign of respect, along with Neku’s friends doing the same, Neku, Shiki, Mr. H, and the Maestros looked in shock as they saw something that made them filled with a sense of dread.

 

To be continued…


	9. The Ambush

Neku, Shiki, Mr. H, and the Higher Ups all saw someone in the stands dissolve into orbs of energy.

 

“That…person…Faded?” Neku thought nervously

 

At that moment another one Faded

 

This caused the people in the stands to look at each other as yet another one Faded, then they all went into a state of panic and leaped off of the stands all running as a huge crowd (almost like a mosh pit) as they all pushed and shoved each other. Knowing what this meant, Mr. H teleported to the Higher Ups and opened a portal

 

“Mr. H what’re you doing?!” Neku yelled

 

“Go! I have to protect the Higher Ups Phones! Get out of here now!” Mr. H yelled

 

One by one the Higher Ups all went inside the portal followed by Mr. H finally entering it and the portal dissolved

 

“Neku!” Shiki yelled holding his arm causing him to look at her

 

“C’mon! we have to get out of here!” she screamed

 

“yeah” Neku yelled back

 

They both then ran towards the crowd seeing Beat, Rhyme, Eri, Joshua and Taki all in the crowd. They pushed and shoved their way into the crowd desperate not to lose sight of them. As more and more people ran inside of portals, this made the ones left behind become even more panicked. This made the crowd push and shove even harder as they all were desperate to get inside the portal. They pushed harder and harder causing Neku to lose his grip and let go of Shiki.

 

“Shiki!” he called out

 

She then looks to see that she lost track of Neku and tried to go after him but the crowd, like a current, pushed her forward. More and more portals opened and more people ran inside, Neku was knocked back with so much force that he slammed onto the ground using his arms for support (the same position he was in before getting shot)

 

He gets up and tries to run into the portal but it dissolved. Neku was trapped inside

 

His friends then all leave the portal along with other Angels and Composers in their human forms (which is why they panicked to begin with knowing that they could die in that form) when they noticed that Neku wasn’t with them

 

They all looked around but he wasn’t there

 

“Shiki where’s Neku? Wasn’t he with you?!” Eri asked nervously

 

“Yeah but the crowd pushed me away from him! I’m sorry! I just lost track of him! I tried to go back for him, but people were pushing me so hard that I couldn’t go back and the next thing I knew I was seperated from him!” Shiki screeched

 

“What?! Then we gotta go get him yo! When ever Phones is alone, that’s when those demon punks go after him!” Beat shouted

 

He then began to run off desperate to reach Neku

 

“Beat, wait stop!” Rhyme shouted “It’s too dangerous for anyone to go back there! We need to think of something!”

 

“She’s right!” Taki added “If people randomly Faded away for no reason at all, then that means someone snuck into the Slaughter room!”

 

Beat then stopped running and turned around

 

“Beat…we need to think about this” Joshua said sternly

 

“But how’s that gonna help Phones yo! Neku man…he needs us Prissy Boy!” Beat said furiously

 

Joshua then sighed

 

“We’ll be able to help Neku, by not being reckless and getting ourselves killed. That’s the best way to help him Beat”

 

Beat then sighed and walked back to Joshua and Neku’s other friends

 

As they thought of what to do to help Neku he was starting to stand up. When he was fully standing he felt a sharp pain in his head making him squeeze his hair and feel his legs tremble.

 

“Nnngh! Something’s here?! It feels…as strong as Anthony” he thought fearfully

 

At that moment Beat, Shiki and Joshua all felt that pain too squeezing their heads

 

“Nnngh! What the hell?! what’s goin’ on yo?!” Beat shouted

 

“I…Nnngh…I don’t know! I just randomly felt a headache!” Shiki yelled back

 

“Me too…I feel something and it feels as strong as Anthony” Joshua said weakly “You all know what this means right?”

 

“Yean but…do you really think they’re here?” Shiki said weakly

 

“I’m not sure” Joshua responded

 

“Hey wait a minute guys! How come you all had headaches and Rhyme, Taki and I didn’t?!” Eri asked curiously

 

“that’s cause we fused with Neku’s Soul in the UG making that link even stronger now that his Soul’s set free. So we can sort of feel what Neku feels” Joshua explained

 

“But it’s only at certain points when the connection spikes up to this point, usually when he’s in pain” Shiki added

 

“So it’s sort of like how you sensed him in the UG when fighting Noise?” Rhyme asked

 

“yeah” Shiki replied

 

They then began to form a plan of sneaking into the Slaughter room without whatever is in the area noticing them and go save Neku, but as they did this, their friend, was still trying to figure out what was happening.

 

As Neku felt the pain in his head lessen causing him to stop panting out of breath and opened his eyes.

 

When he raised his head back to its normal position, at that moment something had uncloaked itself while simultaneously lowering its presence so no one could sense it, something his friends noticed

 

“BWAAAAHAAAAH! Guys! Wazup with this yo! It ain’t here no more! The pain’s gone! An’ what ever was near Phones ain’t there no more either! What’s goin’ on yo?!” Beat shouted

 

“yeah this is so weird I don’t get it!” Shiki exclaimed

 

They all turned to Joshua seeing him with his hands in his pockets deep in thought

 

“Joshua do you know something about this?” Eri said weakly

 

“I guess…that’s one way of putting it” Joshua said with his back facing everyone

 

“What do you mean? Just tell us what’s going on!” Eri shouted filled with concern

 

“Over the many years I’ve existed as a god, only one Demon Lord has gotten this close to the Higher Ups” he explained “That’s why Mr. H had to leave with them, to protect them. The third Demon Lord is the one that attempted this…to try to attack the Higher Ups, and nearly succeed in doing it”

 

“So is Anthony there trying to hurt Neku?” Rhyme said sadly

 

He then turned towards Neku’s friends

 

“Odds are that‘s what‘s going on…although I doubt it, knowing him, he‘d want Shiki to watch Neku suffer.” Joshua said sternly

 

“But now’s our chance! Now that that presence is gone, we can go help Neku right?! We can’t waste anymore time!” Taki shouted

 

“C’mon yo! We gotta go!” Beat said determined

 

“Yeah, if we track Neku’s energy, it’ll lead us back to the Slaughter room” Shiki added

 

They then began to run off

 

Joshua then sighed knowing that Neku’s friends could Fade if they try to help him. Especially since he doubts that the demons would just leave and not take a chance to kill Neku. However seeing how they all had their minds made up, Joshua came to a decision too and said something that made them stop in their tracks

 

“I know you guys want to help Neku, but right now we need to be cautious, one wrong move could easily get us killed. Especially since…this has never happened before…there’s never been a Demon that was able to sneak in to the Slaughter room like that before…especially since it’s cloaked.” he said darkly

 

“No one should be able to reach it unless they teleport there. But even now, I doubt Anthony would let us simply walk inside there. I can sense something’s surrounding the area with barriers so for now I’ll track Neku and let you know what I see” Joshua said sternly

 

He then closed his eyes and a gray aura surrounded him and turned his back towards them so he didn’t feel like he was being watched. They then stood in silence allowing him to concentrate

 

As this happened Neku felt terrified seeing what stood before him knowing he was in danger, for the first time ever, he’s finally face to face with the same beings that nearly killed Joshua…

 

“Soul Stealers?” Neku said weakly

 

The demon wore a dark gray cloak and stood at a menacing 13 ft tall. It then lets out a high pitched screech causing Neku to cover his ears, squinting from how he simultaneously felt like he was being crushed (a side affect a Soul Stealer’s scream educes) as it did this, it made sure to not let its presence be revealed yet (making it difficult for anyone to track the Soul Stealers) not until it was told otherwise by Anthony.

 

As it screamed, another Soul Stealer stood behind Neku and extended out his claws until they were seven inches long and slashed Neku’s back making him scream in pain.

 

He was sent flying smashing his body against the ground over and over, getting his clothes torn and slashes on his body from the pieces of glass from the glass for slashed him. He kept rolling until he crashed into a wall and felt his head drop, and coughed up orbs.

 

“That pain…it was like Joshua’s Energy Scythe…they can mimic that amount of strength?” Neku thought

 

As the second Soul Stealer uncloaked itself it then glided towards Neku, all the while Joshua was sensing what was happening but not the Soul Stealers

 

He then opened his eyes and faced Neku’s friends again

 

“Well? What’d you sense Joshua?” Shiki said eagerly

 

Joshua then hid his concerns and told them what he thought was happening

 

“I can’t tell what’s going on…when I tried to track Neku, I could see what was happening to him, but everything was blurry. It was smudged…I could barely see anything, but I could hear Neku though, that much was a little easier to pick up on” he responded

 

“You think that Anthony’s interfering, not letting you see what‘s happening to Neku?” Rhyme said weakly

 

“That seems to be the case Rhyme…but now I’m not sure what to do. We know now that he HAS to be involved. Out of all of the Demons that exist, he’s the one that wants Neku gone the most. That much is obvious” Joshua said thoughtfully with this hand overlapping his mouth

 

“Well then let’s go yo! I ain’t standin’ here doin’ nothin’ I gotta go help Phones, an’ you ain’t gonna stop me Prissy boy!” Beat shouted get ready to punch him

 

“he’s right Joshua! None of us can waist anymore time being cautious by trying to plan everything out anymore! We gotta go get him!” Taki added

 

“he’d be there for you Joshua.” Shiki said sternly

 

“Yeah we have to go NOW!” Eri insisted

 

“Please Joshua! Let’s just get him out of there!” Rhyme shouted

 

At this moment Anthony told the Soul Stealers to reveal their presence, the Soul Stealer that was gliding towards Neku then placed his hand on Neku’s chest and began to drain his energy causing a darkblue mist to flow towards it. Beat, Shiki and Joshua then felt Neku’s pain

 

“Nngh! Soul Stealers!” Joshua exclaimed

 

“that’s it! We have to go NOW!” Taki screamed

 

“You’re not going anywhere” Joshua said calmly “it’s too dangerous for any of you to go and help him. None of you have the experience Mr. H and I have with fighting demons. If you guys go in there you be getting yourselves killed.”

 

Taki and Neku’s other friends then all hanged their heads knowing this to be true.

 

“so what’re we suppose to do? Just stay here and let him die?” Eri said weakly

 

As they all argued a third Soul Stealer approached Neku. The second one then lets go of him and the third one slashed Neku’s right cheek with such force that went hurdling back towards the ground again.

 

At that moment a fourth Soul Stealer uncloaked itself and grabbed Neku’s left leg and slammed him towards the ground with so much force that his skin began to tear, tearing his left calve, forearm, and right side of his waist.

 

He trembled as he desperately tried to get up but felt his arms tremble as they were about to give up on him.

 

“Mr. H…he can’t help me…he’s protecting the Higher Ups…but…where are they? No…they can’t come here, if they do, they’ll Fade! I can’t let that happen to me” Neku thought

 

He then pushed himself even harder

 

“Improve my endurance” he thought

 

He then pressed his hands against his knees and pushed himself regardless of how he was in so much pain that he whimpered. He then squeezed his right arm and used it as a crutch and charged up an instant kill shot in his right hand.

 

He then let’s go of his wrist and points the Instant Kill Shot at the Soul Stealers. Another one uncloaked itself and glided over towards Neku and held out its hand absorbing the instant kill shot.It was something that was so unexpected that Neku’s eyes widened as he watched the energy be absorbed in the monster’s hand.

 

"Rrrgh! Crap! What am I suppose to do?! If even that can't kill them then I'm screwed!" Neku screamed squinting while squeezing his hair

 

As tired as he was, Neku was desperate to somehow survive and began trying to charge up his energy, he would've tried using Angel energy instead but he was too weak to access it

 

"Gotta try something! ANYTHING!" Neku screamed in his head

 

he then took a deep breath and let it out to try to calm down

 

"Focus" he muttered

 

he tried to quickly charge up his energy sensing how the Soul Stealers were gliding towards him, causing white energy outlined in dark blue to surround him and dance wildly like fire while in his usual stance for concentration. He then felt the energy swirling more and more until he knew it was ready, that it was burning extremely hot. Neku then opened his eyes and extended his hands outward as Soul Steelers

 

"Enough!" Neku shouted as he blasted out the energy

 

he then sees that his attack blasted the mysterious cloaked demons away from him, seeing them stunned for a few minutes, only for them to continue gliding towards him.

 

"No...it only stunned them?" Neku said weakly as he used his right arm as a crutch again, exhausted

 

Neku then tried to fight some more and got into his fighting stance panting out of breath

 

"Even if I'm outmatched there's gotta be something I can do!" Neku thought trying to push himself, though still scared

 

Neku then engulfed both hands in his energy and leaped towards a Soul Stealer now in front of him and tried to punch it in the face, only for the Soul Stealer to slash Neku, launching him towards the right as smashed onto the ground.

 

Landing on his right side Neku then pushes himself up despite still trembling in pain. When fully standing he then tried to run away from them but felt something punch him in the face making him land on his left side. As Neku struggled to get back up he felt something tear through the back of his shirt.

 

“No…slow down” Anthony said mentally “We WILL kill him but not yet, I’ll freeze his friends so they will have to wait a while before helping him. we need to weaken Neku more and lure hid friends here. if necessary we will change the plan and kill the little Fledgling. but for now only weaken him”

 

The Soul Stealers did as they were told and eased up on killing Neku, and decided to merely beat him into consciousness instead.

 

At this moment all of Neku’s friends felt a jolt making them all freeze in place

 

“Nngh! I can’t move” Shiki thought

 

More Soul stealers uncloaked themselves and began to slash Neku sending him hurdling into the air, one would swoop in from the right and slash Neku, and one from the left would do the same. One would slash him from behind (But not deeply) and one would slash him in the front.

 

As they did this Neku unleashed painful screams as he began to cry from being overwhelmed in pain.

 

“Phones…you gotta figure a way out of this” Mr. H thought sadly

 

“Head Maestro sir, I know I can’t leave you all but you all can see what they’re doing to him, at this rate, he’ll fade at any moment” Mr. H said seriously

 

“I’m well aware of this, but you know as well as I do that his friends won’t let him Fade. Even if they’re frozen, we at least know that he will figure a way out to help the Fledgling” Aiden said sternly

 

Another Soul Stealer approached Neku and they went into a frenzy all slashing Neku at every angle again making him scream in pain. He was sent flying with so much force that he slammed his back against a wall and landed face first onto the ground. He tried to get back up again but he was slashed in the face by another Soul Stealer causing him to roll onto the ground as the glass floor shattered around him.

 

Anthony watched filled with glee, sitting at the edge of his seat and squeezed the chair handles as he wore a devilish grin going ear to ear. he was filled with a sense of joy hearing Neku cry out in agony, listening to the screams get louder and louder.

 

 

"Soon Clarissa. Soon they will all know how it feels" Anthony thought 

 

 

Desperate to get away Neku began to crawl away from the Soul Stealers as his body trembled, regardless of how much it made him ache just to move. He knew he had to push himself at least for a little longer.

 

As he crawled away from them, he extended out his right hand and shot out a blast of his energy, only for it to glide away from the attack. a Soul Stealer glided towards him and slashed Neku’s face sending him rolling onto the ground again and coughed up a few orbs.

 

Filled with glee Anthony then showed Shiki all of Neku’s suffering to her as a vision allowing her to see everything that’s happening to him, seeing him in so much pain made her eyes water.

 

As she saw him get lifted into the air by a Soul Stealer grabbing his funnel collar and have another one soar at him from the left and slash his waist again causing him to crash onto the ground again and slide on the floor causing the glass floor to screech.

 

“Neku” Shiki whispered as tears fell

 

His entire body was covered in scratches, his right shoulder, right side of his face, stomach, right leg, left calve, and left forearm were all torn with his energy leaking out of him, feeling that he’s reached limit, feeling sore, broken, and overwhelmed with agony, Neku curled into a ball as he wheezed in pain and felt his eyes become heavy.

 

as Neku laid there, one of the Soul Stealers approached him and as it glided towards Neku, he desperately raised his right hand again to generate his energy, desperate to defend himself, but his energy only came out as sparks as his hand trembled from pain.

 

"No" he said weakly as his hand fell down"Now...I...I can't even generate energy"

 

The Soul Stealer that was gliding towards him then got close enough and placed its hand on Neku's chest as he wheezed in pain seeing dark blue mist flow out of him again

 

"S-Stop" Neku whispered "Please"

 

“I can’t pass out here…it’ll all be over for me….where are they? I know they wouldn’t abandon me…we’ve fought for our lives before…even against Reapers that were strong enough to kill us…and yet that never stopped them before. But if they came to help me…they’d be putting themselves in danger” Neku thought

 

“There’s only one person…that could help me”

 

As Neku felt his body get weaker and weaker to the point his vision began to blur from barely being conscious he used the last bit of strength he had to call out to the only person that he knew could help him.

 

“Josh…” he whimpered

 

Neku then closed his eyes and screamed as loud as he could

 

“JOSHUAAAAA!”

 

“Nnngh!…Neku?” Joshua thought

 

He noticed that no one else cringed from getting a headache like how he did, regardless of being frozen.

 

“He…how did he link with me just now? Is it possible for a Pact to grow even stronger than it already is now? Neku…he needs me” Joshua continued thinking

 

He then remembered another time when Neku needed him, back when he was Damien, and remembered what Mr. H had asked him:

 

“Do you care about Neku?”

 

He then flashed back to when he talked to Neku about his past, and remembered what he had told him:

 

“You’re…like a friend to me”

 

“This is…just like when Mr. H and I were in another Demon War, the 123rd Demon Lord’s war…had nearly killed him…we fought to our breaking points causing us to have to revert to our human forms so we could power down…we were…panting out of breath…exhausted, covered in scratches, bruises and were both leaking energy…and yet in the end…he was always there for me…Sanae was there…I guess in a way…Neku is like that too. Who knows? Maybe one day he’ll be the one saving my ass instead of Mr. H”

 

As Joshua pondered over that thought he then knew what to do. He focused his Composer energy, taking advantage of how they can manipulate time, to a certain extent, like freezing people in place.

 

Once he had focused enough, he opened his eyes and unfreezed himself, and began to walk away leaving Neku’s other friends behind. Joshua then held out his hand and opened a portal that would lead to the Slaughter room.

 

“Wait!” Taki said telepathically “I’m coming too! You know what I really am Joshua! Even if I--

 

Remembering to think carefully Taki corrected himself while still hinting at Joshua what he meant

 

“Even if I’m weak, even if I’m not strong like THEM, I’m still strong Joshua! I’m not gonna leave Neku behind like this!”

 

Joshua, realizing what Taki was hinting at began to walk towards him knowing that a Demon vs. another demon has a better chance at surviving than a Human Soul vs. a Demon.

 

He then placed his hand on Taki’s left shoulder and unfreezed him. With Taki now freed they then both ran towards the portal knowing that they had to hurry to save Neku.

 

“Neku…Please hold on” Shiki thought as she saw him wheezing on the floor barely conscious

 

Neku laid there wheezing in pain trying not to pass out. as he did another Soul Stealer flew towards him and slashed his face making him scream as he smacked onto the ground causing more glass to shatter as he rolled six times.

 

another Soul stealer then grabbed Neku's left leg and threw him towards one of the walls and as he fell face first to the ground the Soul stealer infront of him grabbed his face and slammed the frail boy onto the ground landing on the back of his head.

 

then four Soul Stealers all glided to Neku and slashed his waist at the left and sent him flying crahsing against a wall. the next one then slashed Neku again making him go flying and roll onto the ground before smacking against another wall

 

this procedure continued making it almost like the mysterious demons were juggling Neku. as he flew into the air again. four of the Soul Stealers latched onto him making more dark blue mist flow out of him as he screamed in pain before crashing onto the floor again, making him roll onto the ground laying on his right side.

 

As Neku desperately tried to hang on he felt his eyes grow heavier, his eyelids felt more and more heavy, like their weight was forcing them shut.

 

he saw the menacing demons all glide closer to him extending out their hands making more darkblue mist flow out of him.

 

"I...I'm...not gonna make it" he thought "I...can't"

 

"Guys...I can't" Neku whispered "Shi...ki...I'm...sorry

 

his vision blurred evenmore making the Soul Stealers look like blobs and he could barely hear himself wheeze in pain. everything got more and more silent until he had reached his limit and couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore

 

Neku had now collapsed making Anthony smile even more as he was filled with a sense of accomplishment for being so close to killing Neku. As he laid on the ground defenseless with his back facing the Soul Stealers, he looked severely limp, and breakable with his frail little arms resting by his face, as he faced towards the left with his torn legs curved in the opposite direction.

 

“C’mon Boss…Hurry!” Mr. H thought as he watched concerned

 

There was a total of ten Soul Stealers in the room, and they all gave the one closet to Neku some space, so it could drag Neku towards it. The Demon manipulated the fabric of its cloak causing it to drape towards Neku, and began to flap as if a breeze was blowing it, upon doing so Neku’s unconscious little body began to get dragged towards the demon, as if he was being pulled by a magnet.

 

Seeing this as an opportunity to finally kill Neku without his friends’ interference he made a change in is plan. He then wore an evil smile, looking hostile as he squeezed his chair’s handles filled with excitement as he could sense the overwhelming sense of grief and heartache from Shiki and from seeing his beaten foe.

 

The Demon then manipulated the fabric of its cloak and caused it to begin to wrap parts of the cloak around Neku and brought him towards its face. The Soul Stealer then lets out a low snarl as it prepared to go to Neku’s Soul Code by digging the fabric into his body (since it was filled with Demon energy it would be able to cut through Neku’s body like demon claws)

 

 

Taking advantage of the parts of Neku’s body that exposed the core energy of his Soul, (his darkblue energy) the Soul Stealer dug parts of the cloak inside of Neku.

 

It then went deeper into his torn body making less of the fabric visible as more and more of it went inside of Neku. Anthony watched happily as he saw eight orbs leak out of Neku from the torn parts of his body.

 

the Soul Stealer then wrapped more of its cloak around Neku as the fabric began to dig into Neku's chest making his dark blue energy begin to flow into the Soul Stealer and make Neku's chest begin to leak even more energy, now the size of bowling balls out of him, making Mr. H even more concerned as he saw the parts of Neku's body that leaked energy, dissolve into orbs

 

"Boss! hurry! they're about to kill him!" Mr. H said telepathically

 

Before it could dig deeper into Neku's chest, a blast of white energy outlined in gray blasted the Soul Stealer away from Neku making him fall head first towards the ground.

 

Taki (who had just made it with Joshua at another part of the room) teleported himself to Neku and caught him, and placed him on the ground. Joshua then teleported over to Taki, who had already started to heal Neku, closed his eyes and then opened them to reveal them to be gray colored with a dark gray aura surrounding him.

 

He then lets out a distorted roar sounding similar to a lion. Joshua then spoke to the demons in his true voice, the inhuman voice of his Death God Form. It was the same pitch he usually speaks in, but it was distorted, as if multiple people were speaking.

 

Taki healed Neku as fast as he could so the Soul Stealers wouldn’t have a chance at killing him (being a half demon he had to learn how to heal himself quickly so he could retreat and hide if someone ever found out what he really was) it’s because of this that, Taki had healed Neku to the point he regained conciousness, and the parts of his body that dissolved into orbs were normal again. though still severely beaten, and heard Joshua say a menacing remark to the Soul Stealers in that distorted voice.

 

“Get your filthy hands off of Neku”

 

“Neku?” Neku thought disoriented “he…he’s never called…me that around…demons or someone…of a higher status. Josh…when will you just admit it?…why can‘t you…accept me?”

 

Joshua then closed his eyes, teleporting Taki and Neku away from him (near one of the walls) so Taki could finish healing Neku and opened his eyes entering his Death God form.

 

Taki then looked at Joshua amazed

 

“Neku…you know…a Death God?” he said in awe

 

He then looked at Neku to see his friend unconscious again

 

“I’ll make you get better don’t worry” Taki said sternly

 

He then closed his eyes and focused on healing Neku again

 

With them both out of the way, Joshua proceeded to fight the Soul Stealers with all his power, knowing that now he could do so without killing Neku and Taki from them sensing his true presence.

 

They flew up to him determined to drain Joshua’s energy and kill him, this mad him merely smirk as they began to slow down in speed. He then extends out his hand sending them all flying from a shock wave.

 

The Soul Stealers retaliated by tackling Joshua, something that made Mr. H worried. Before he could even ask Joshua if he was alright, he sent a powerful blast of energy at them sending the demons flying away again.

 

The Soul Stealers then all shot demon energy at Joshua hoping to strike him down, the Deash God retaliates by manipulating his surroundings breaking the floor into massive chunks of glass and hurled them down like rain on the Soul Stealers. Joshua then took advantage of the experience he’s had with fighting Demons and summoned his powers over death.

 

He then unleashed excruciating pain on the Demons as the glass shards would cut into them with his imprint that he spoke aloud:

 

“ **Suffer** ”

 

Knowing that it would take more than that to truly hurt them, Joshua blasted his energy at them causing it to surge like fire.

 

The demons then became plumes of black smoke and flew at Joshua draining him of his energy.

 

The mighty Death God then teleported away from them and flew at them and break-neck speeds slashing the Soul Stealers multiple times.

 

Seeing how formidable Joshua was, Anthony decided to take advantage of how he and other Death Gods and Angels haven’t fought a Demon as powerful as him in many millenia, by unleashing just a small sample of his true power. The Soul Stealers all roared and had bright red eyes illuminating through their hoods.

 

They then flew at Joshua at blinding speeds slashing Joshua with such force that it felt like he was being stabbed with knives, as their claws would slash his energy form. In order to recover by using less energy, Joshua returned to his human form.

 

“How’s he holding up?” Joshua shouted at Taki

 

He then opened his eyes and looked at Joshua

 

“see for yourself” Taki answered

 

They both saw Neku had finally regained conciousness with nearly all his wounds healed, all he had left was the torn holes of energy which were reduced to dark blue scratch marks.

 

“Nnngh…Taki?” Neku said weakly

 

He then opened his wider as he felt more awake

 

“Joshua behind you!” he shouted

 

Seeing he was distracted, the empowered Soul Stealers all began slashing Joshua in all directions making him scream in pain as he was slashed over and over making his human form receive multiple cuts on him as well as his Composer energy beginning to leak out of him.

 

Another Soul Stealer grabbed Joshua’s neck and suspended him into the air with its left hand and then stabbed Joshua’s stomach with its right. Seeing his long time friend in so much pain, Mr. H urged the Higher Ups to let him help them.

 

“Joshua is a Death God Sanae, he’s more than capable of handling this. You DO trust his abilities don’t you?” Aiden asked

 

“yes Sir, I’m also aware that I need to guard you all until they leave…but I can’t just stand here and let him suffer either! I have to be there for him too sir. I can't just watch him get hurt!” Mr. H answered

 

“Sanae, we know that he’s become a very close friend that’s pulled through for you many times, but allow the young Composer to unleash his powers, after all, Yoshiya hasn’t gotten to fight demons like this in a while. It will be a good way to see if he’s grown soft and needs improvement. Allow him to protect his Proxy Sanae, after all, he’s the most powerful Death God here.” Amonae said reassuringly

 

Mr. H then looked back at her and nodded in understanding

 

“C’mon Josh, you can hold ‘em off. I know you can handle this” Mr. H thought

 

“thanks Mr. H, it’s nice to know that some people believe in my abilities” he said smugly

 

Joshua then teleported above the Soul Stealers and blasted them all with his energy, he dialed numbers on his cellphone and hurled soda machines and cars at them, only to have them slash through all the objects. He then became his Death God form one more time and roared as he blasted massive amounts of energy at the Soul Stealers nearly engulfing the Slaughter room in his energy.

 

“Joshua? You…protected me?” Neku thought a little confused

 

Beginning to reach his limit Joshua knew that he had to kill the Soul Stealers, that allowing them to reach Neku would cost him his afterlife but now he was drained and had to return to his human form.

 

Taki, sensing Joshua’s fatigue, and also being aware of this fate ran towards Joshua causing Neku to look at his old friend terrified

 

“Takato don’t! if you get near them they’ll kill you!” Neku screamed

 

Taki stopped running and then looked at Neku with a little smile. He then snapped his fingers and became his half demon form.

 

“How is it that he went unnoticed until now?” Amonae wondered

 

“is it possible that he too was lowering his presence the whole time? How can a creature like him even exist? Half-Human Soul and half Demon?! Such a combination has never come to pass!” Ryuga said astonished

 

“Neku…” he said sadly “I wish we could’ve gone and hanged out again…to be with your friends from the Reapers’ Game and just live a normal life…you know?”

 

Taki then hanged his head he teleported over to Neku and pressed his pointer and middle finger on Neku’s forehead, pressing them against his friend’s bright orange bangs.

 

“I want to be useful to you…to be there for you even if…I have to lose everything man. I just wish…my time in the afterlife could’ve been different…but I’m glad we got to see each other again you know?” Taki said with his voice breaking a little

 

He then closed his eyes and smiled at Neku as he focused his thoughts on Neku, giving him one of his powers…the ability to sense Demons faster (an ability he had to teach himself to stay hidden) causing Neku to feel a little shock on his forehead.

 

Taki then removed his fingers from Neku

 

“We’ll look to the future together Neku and…I’m glad I got to see you one last time” he said smiling

 

He then ran towards the Soul Stealers and pushed Joshua out of the way with a gust of wind sending him towards Neku

 

“Taki?” Neku said weakly

 

He then looked at Neku one last time smiling a little and looked back at the demons and felt a tear stream down his face

 

“Goodbye…Neku Sakuraba….you were…the brother I never had” he said telepathically

 

The Soul Stealers then all flew at Taki removing chuncks of his body exposing his energy, Joshua then got to his feet and ran towards Takimaru in an attempt to save him.

 

The Soul Stealers slashed Taki making him scream in pain, they slashed him over and over causing his half demon energy to leak out (dark gray energy) outlined in a blue green color (the color of the energy within his soul) they tore, his shoulders, arms, legs and face with eventually his entire body covered in his energy

 

“No…don’t do it!” Neku screamed

 

Joshua was running as fast as he could, he wanted to teleport to Takato to save him but he felt to weak to do anything other than run. A Soul Stealer snarled at Taki and then slashed him in the face causing him to dissolve into orbs until they all dissolved into nothingness.

 

Joshua then stopped in his tracks and turned towards Neku to see his eyes watering. He then manages to stand up and was filled with sadness 

 

“he’s…no…Takato…he isn’t gone…right?” Neku said sadly hiding his face in his collar and hands in his pockets

 

 

Joshua then walked towards Neku and as he did this the Soul Stealers teleported back to the demon realm.

 

“Neku…he is…you know he is.” Joshua said sternly as he stood in front of Neku

 

“no…” Neku said hurt 

 

 

 

Joshua snapped his fingers repairing Neku’s clothes and healed Neku’s remaining wounds. He then closed his eyes and opened them to heal himself of his wounds and then held out his left hand and opened a portal.

 

“Come on Neku… your other friends are waiting for you. I made sure to not unfreeze them, so they wouldn’t come here and try to rescue you. So they wouldn’t suffer the same fate as you nearly did.” Joshua said noticing how Neku was hiding the sadness he feels

 

“You…were looking out for them? You protected me…you protected them and prevented them from getting nearly killed? But…why?” Neku said weakly

 

Joshua then lets out his usual smug smile pulling his hair back and lets out his sinister laugh

 

“Oh Neku don’t you remember? I said that I found you Human Souls interesting…Hee hee. Besides we couldn’t have your friends all Fading now can we?” he said slyly

 

“Y-Yeah…” Neku said sadly wishing Joshua could understand the grief he was feeling

 

They then walked into the portal and walked out of it to Neku’s other friends, Joshua then unfroze them and they all eagerly ran to Neku relieved that he was okay.

 

“Neku!” Eri shouted

 

She then ran to him and hugged him

 

“We’re so glad you’re okay! I was so scared for you! I thought that you--

 

Eri then began to cry as tears splashed onto Neku’s funnel collar

 

“Eri?” Neku said concerned

 

He then wrapped his hands around her

 

“I…um…I’m sorry I scared you” he said weakly

 

She then let’s go of him and smiled glad that he was safe.

 

“I uh…I’m glad you’re okay” Eri said bashfully

 

“yeah…me too” Neku said smiling a little

 

Beat then ran up to Neku and gave him a nuggie making him smile and laugh as he saw Beat fight back tears. Then Rhyme ran up to him, causing him to kneel down for her and hugged him too.

 

“N-Neku” Rhyme whimpered

 

She then began sniffling as she was filled with grief at the thought of losing him, senseing her sadness he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty

 

“I’m sorry Rhyme” Neku said sadly

 

She then lets go of her and she smiled a little making him smile back. He then gets up to see Shiki standing a few feet away from him and she ran up to him and hugged him. Shiki couldn’t say a word, all she could do was cry

 

She couldn’t help but see him screaming in pain as the Soul Stealers tortured him, subconsciously sending these images to Neku. As he wrapped his hands around her, he couldn’t help but feel his eyes water from feeling even more guilty.

 

“Did I…Did I really put her through this? To sit back and watch me slowly get closerand closer to being killed? Shiki…I’m so sorry” Neku said in his head

 

She then let’s go of him and they all asked what happened to Taki…when they did, they saw Neku hide his face from them again.

 

“Taki…he…he and Joshua both protected me…but Taki…after he healed me and saw that Joshua could only take so much before the Soul Stealers could hurt him…ran towards them…and he…

 

Neku then felt a lump in his throat flashing back to when he and Taki would hang out and just talk about who they think CAT is. He‘d even remember simple things like them walking around Shibuya together…all the images were so clear it was as if Taki wasn’t gone.

 

“Takato…he…lost everything…because of me. Ever since I entered the Higher Plane, I've began to remember him again. But now it's too late” Neku said heartbroken

 

Shiki then became extremely pale at the thought of Taki’s fate

 

“What?! Neku you had nothing to do with that! You didn’t do anything!” Shiki shouted

 

He then became enraged realizing how true that statement was

 

“Exactly!” Neku roared shaking his fist “I DIDN’T do ANYTHING! Takato is gone because of me!”

 

Neku then became so frustrated that he squeezed his hair

 

“If I wasn’t weak! If I wasn’t so easy to kill then none of this would’ve happened! DON’T YOU GUYS GET THAT?! NONE OF YOU WILL EVER KNOW WHAT THIS FEELS LIKE! YEAH YOU’VE BEEN THERE FOR ME, ALL OF YOU HAVE! AND THANKS TO JOSHUA, I’M STILL HERE! AGAIN! AGAIN HE HAD TO SAVE ME! I’M TOO WEAK!” he screamed enraged squeezing his hair

 

He then felt tears build evenmore as his anger swirled into digust and hate towards himself. Eri looked at Neku filled with sadness from seeing him so vulnerable.

 

He hid his hands in his pockets as he hanged his head. 

 

“Back in the Reapers’ Game” he said sadly “I…I had a fighting chance. I had my pins, my imagination…and my partners…all helping me…but…even when I went up against Reapers that were stronger than me, like Game Masters, I still had you guys. I had Shiki helping me in the first week…and I had Joshua in the second week…and you Beat…in the third…

 

 

“But here…in the afterlife…where our souls are free…I’m totally helpless! I…I’m just a burden. All I am is just…someone who has to get saved, someone who gets their ass handed to them over and over! No matter what I do…I’m not strong enough…even when I use my mind to fight back…I can’t. I'm…I’m just--

 

Before Neku could finish he then felt someone pull him towards him and hug him, causing him to hug that person back.

 

“Neku…” Shiki said sweetly “The Higher Plane's been scary for us too. The same pain you're feeling right now, is how we felt when you were a Demon Lord. We were scared that there was nothing we could do! Yet we were able to save you. And you're not a burden Neku. We want to be there for you. That’s why we don’t mind being there for you until this is all over, and that’s a promise. So cheer up okay? I know you can do this Neku.”

 

He then felt the warmth of her energy begin to soothe him

 

“thank you” he said weakly

 

She then pulled Neku away gently and smiled at him

 

“Don’t mention it Neku” Shiki said smiling

 

“You know you honestly had me worried there Neku” Joshua said with a curious look on his face

 

Everyone then looked at Joshua in shock from him saying that

 

“You’re not going to turn into a quitter are you Neku? The Neku Sakuraba I know wouldn’t give up so easily…it’s true that this is a lot harder than the Reapers’ Game, that both the Angels’ Game and just fighting Demons have pushed you to the brink of losing it all, but you always find a way out Neku. Even when the odds were all against you when you didn’t have a partner in the third week, you were still determined to find a way to beat the Game no matter what. All we need to do is get that amount of control on the situation and you’ll have that confidence back Neku.” Joshua said wisely

 

“Joshua…” Neku said weakly

 

“Hm? What is it Neku?” Joshua responded

 

“thanks” Neku said bashfully

 

He then turned back to his friends and couldn’t help but want to ask Eri something

 

“Eri…” Neku said quietly hiding his face in his funnel collar

 

“Yeah? What’s wrong Neku?” Eri responded as she walked up to him

 

“Why didn’t you do it?” he said weakly

 

“Huh?” she said confused

 

“Back when I…I just…couldn’t take it anymore…and…I was saying how l was lame, you didn’t make fun of me. Beat, Shiki, and Rhyme I understand…cause I know they wouldn’t do that…and well Joshua’s a Death God, so he probably doesn’t see anything in someone crying…so…why didn’t you do that? I…just don’t understand” Neku said weakly in an almost dry tone of voice

 

Only having real friends for three and a half months it was something that he was still getting use to…loyalty

 

“Neku…that’s so messed up” Eri said sadly “You really think I’d want to do that to you? I know that you don’t know me as well as Shiki does, so I guess I can understand why you’d think that but…

 

She then smiled and walked up to him

 

“I’ve just never done that before” she said sweetly

 

Neku then looked up at her confused

 

“huh? You never…

 

“I’ve never seen the point in hurting people, that’s all. I’m glad that you were able to let out that sadness, after all keeping that inside you isn’t a good thing you know.” she said sweetly

 

Neku then couldn’t help but smile at her knowing how true that statement was

 

“yeah…it turns out doing that for so long destabilized my mind and Soul, heh heh” Neku said chuckling a little

 

Eri then giggled happy to see Neku feeling better, but at that moment Neku’s eye color changed to become Taki’s and then he felt a sharp pain in his head causing him to fall to his knees from feeling like he’s being crushed

 

“Neku!” Eri shouted

 

“Nngh! Guys…I…I think it’s--

 

“well isn’t this a little touching moment” a voice said

 

The person then snapped his fingers lowering his presence, removing Neku’s headache allowing him to get back up and gasped filled with shock and a sense of dread

 

“Anthony” he said darkly


	10. God Rank Training

Neku and his friends looked filled with terror hoping to never see him so close, but out of all the people there, Neku was especially concerned for Eri since she’s never been so close to Anthony until now. The Demon Lord then smiled and snapped his fingers freezing everyone in place. He then walked over to Joshua and placed his hand on his shoudler making it impossible for Joshua to unfreeze himself.

 

 

“Hello there Neku” Anthony said nonchalantly as he walked towards him

 

He then placed his right hand on Neku’s forehead, unfreezing him while simultaneously stinging Neku with his energy.

 

“Nnngh! What’re you doing?!” Neku screamed

 

“Hmm, this is interesting” Anthony said smiling “It seems that ability Takato gave you not only helps you sense demons faster, but helps you control your Demon energy, to maintain the control that Shiki gave you. He truly was such an intriguing little boy. Such a shame he had to Fade hm?”

 

He then removed his hand from Neku pleased with how enraged Neku was from him talking about Taki in such a playful manner

 

“Rrrgh! You shut up! You’re the one who--

 

“Who killed you’re friend yes, I know. Tragic as it is for you, this is only the beginning of what’s yet to come Neku.” Anthony said darkly

 

He then began to walk away from Neku, turned around once he got a certain distance, stood there and merely stared down all of Neku’s friends.

 

“You see I’ve been analyzing why all my attempts to make you Fade have all failed sadly…and it all pointed back to your little friends.” the twisted demon said smiling

 

“Ah, so many options…so many people I could kill right now…

 

Anthony then began to walk closer thinking about who he should kill first, and remembered how his last attempt at killing Neku was nearly a success, how Neku was nearly beaten to the point his soul fell apart.

 

As the memory raced inside his head he then remembered the one person that ruined his whole plan and began to walk towards that same person.

 

Seeing him do this sent chills down Neku’s spine as he was filled with fear knowing what Anthony could do.

 

“No he’s really going to…I….Rrrrgh! I can’t let that happen!” Neku screamed in his head

 

Neku then charged up the instant kill shot in his right hand and leaped towards Anthony, who merely smiled at Neku and chuckled.

 

He then punched Neku in the face sending him crashing to the ground with such force that he rolled a little bit from the impact with the energy dissolving from his right hand.

 

When he finally stopped rolling, (landing on his stomach) Neku looked up and became filled with a sense of different emotions.

 

He starred wide eyed knowing what he could do to her, and as a result was overwhelmed with a sense of urgency.

 

Anthony then walked over to the person that ruined his plan of beating Neku to death and merely leaned down to her height and smiled at her.

 

“Hello there Rhyme. It’s such a shame that a young girl had to die at such a young age isn’t it?” he said kindly

 

This odd behavior made her extremely uncomfortable and felt her eyes widen as she looked into his eyes.

 

“Don’t…just…don’t come any closer!” Rhyme thought terrified

 

“But Rhyme if I did that…than how would I be able to kill you?” Anthony asked in a teasing way

 

He then reached out to her with his left hand and began to snarl, charging energy in his left hand, but the moment he did this, a blast of black demon energy sent him flying away from her.

 

“Neku!” Rhyme thought happily

 

He then teleported to her as Damien

 

“There’s no way in hell I’m letting you kill her!” Neku roared

 

Anthony then got up and smiled as he walked towards Neku

 

“Ah, the ex-Demon Lord, I haven’t seen this form in a while. So tell me Neku, when will you just learn to accept your Demon energy? That you really do need demon energy?” Anthony said slyly

 

“Rrrgh! Shut up!” Neku snarled

 

Neku then ran towards Anthony and he did the same. Neku swiped at Anthony with his claws over and over as he desperately tried to slash him. The over powering demon merely smiled as he dodged Neku’s slashes and blasted Neku in the stomach with energy making him scream in pain as the Demon energy burned him.

 

As Neku flew back from the recoil, slamming his right shoulder to the ground he then teleported over to Anthony and wrapped his legs around Anthony’s neck as he back flipped sending Anthony into the air.

 

Neku then flew at Anthony as a plume of smoke getting ready to dive into Anthony‘s back causing it to burn him.

 

The demon lord then merely snapped his fingers and teleported behind Neku’s smoke form and shot red demon lighting at him causing Neku to revert back to his demon form while screaming from the energy burning him again, causing his clothes to be torn and get those deep black cuts that tore up his demon skin.

 

As Neku got back up panting out of breath he heard a voice ring in his head

 

_“You’re weak without this energy, you need it”_

 

“No…I…I’m not like him, I know I’m not” Neku reminded himself mentally

 

“I don’t care how it’s weaker than this form…if Mr. Hanekoma can kill Demons stronger than him, then I can too!”

 

Neku then closed his eyes and placed his hands in his pockets, and thought about something Mr. H had told him

 

_“Focus on the Angel energy, not the Demon energy”_

 

He then opened his eyes revealing them to be a pale gray color while summoning his Angel wings and became his Angel form.

 

“You got this Phones! Don’t wuss out now man!” Beat thought encouraging is brother

 

“You know it, Beat” Neku thought happy to have that support

 

As Neku charged up an orb of Angel energy in his hand he heard Mr. H talk to him

 

“Phones, don’t go full vibe frequency! Right now you’re even stronger than me, if you went to your full power you’d kill everyone in the HP Shibuya, including your friends. Be careful.” he said telepathically

 

“I will” Neku thought back

 

He then fired the orb at Anthony and flew at him at break neck speeds. Anthony merely smiled as he shot his demon energy at Neku’s orb. Anticipating this, Neku then snaped his fingers and made the orb explode making its range spread towards Anthony.

 

He then teleported away from the blast only to have Neku fly at him blasting Angel fire at him. In the blink of an eye Anthony then teleported behind Neku and grabbed his Angel wings, something that made Mr. H become extremely pale

 

“Neku…no he’s not gonna do that to him. Anthony’s toying with him!” Mr. H thought trying not to get so nervous as he watched from the Composer District

 

Anthony then snickered as he electrocuted Neku’s Angel wings making him feel like his wings were burning causing him to let out an agonizing scream to the point of crying.

 

He then reverted back to his soul form and fell down to the ground head first. The demon then flew down towards Neku and grabbed his left leg and slammed him onto the ground landing on his face.

 

Anthony then stepped on Neku’s back with his left foot and squeezed Neku’s head with his left hand and knealed down towards his enemy’s face.

 

“You know what Neku?” Anthony said teasingly as he listened to Neku whimper in pain “I’m not even really here right now. You’ve been fighting a clone of me”

 

He then let’s go of Neku and began to walk back towards Rhyme, Neku then rose to his feet and activated his Armored form. He then teleported to Anthony and fired his energy at the demon surprised to see him cringe in pain.

 

“This boy…his energy burned me before but…it didn’t hurt like this. Honestly this little spirit is filled with so many surprises” Anthony thought pleased with Neku’s progress

 

He then grabbed Neku’s face and electrocuted him with Demon energy making Neku scream in pain. Anthony the dropped Neku as he reverted to his normal form onto the ground and walked towards Rhyme again. He charged up Demon energy as lightning in his right hand and held out his right hand towards Rhyme’s face, making her irises tremble with fear.

 

“Neku…help” Rhyme thought nervously as she saw him laying on the ground.

 

“Nngh…it hurts to move” Neku thought “I can’t take much more of this…but I have to…for Rhyme’s sake. She protected me when I nearly Faded last time…so…

 

Neku then began to push himself upward regardless of how his arms trembled and eventually was standing up again

 

“You can do this Neku!” Shiki said telepathically

 

He then looked her and smiled

 

Neku then ran up to Anthony charging up Angel energy in his hands and leaped into the air, pouncing at Anthony. seeing this from the corner of his eye, he reached out to Neku with his left hand wrapped his hands around Neku's collar squeezing his neck making Neku's Angel energy dissolve as he squeezed Anthony's arms whimpering in pain.

 

 

The Demon then burned Neku with his demon energy and blasted Neku away making him land on his back, sliding on his right shoulder whimpering in pain as he laid on the ground.

 

 

Anthony then looked back at Rhyme and charged up the lightning to the point it began to crackle as he was finally about to attack Rhyme, a black blur teleported in front of her. Neku stood shielding Rhyme as a full demon again, and began to snarl at his enemy.

 

 

Anthony merely smiled at Neku, glad to see his concern for his friends made him wide open for Anthony’s next attack. Neku began to charge up orbs of Demon energy when he felt Anthony dig his claws into Neku’s forearms making him scream in pain. The powerful demon then removed his claws from Neku and explained what he had done.

 

“Nice isn’t it? I mimicked an attack from a Scouter we once had Dokueki. Since your memories of when you were a Demon Lord are a little hazy I’ll explain. He had the ability to make his enemies suffer paralysis by digging his poisonous claws into people. Heh, I can’t help but wonder now how well you’ll fight without the upper half of your body.”

 

Neku then snarled at his enemy filled with hate for trying this hard to kill Rhyme.

 

“Rrrrgh! It doesn’t matter what you do, I’m not letting you kill Rhyme!” Neku shouted

 

“Phones….thanks man” Beat thought happy to see Neku care so much about his sister

 

“We’ll see” Anthony said taunting Neku

 

He then punched Neku in the face sending him flying followed by crashing onto the ground again. As he tried to get up he realized how much he really does rely on his arms and hands.

 

“What?! Why can't I...No! Rrrgh! Dammit I can’t get up! This is what he wants…this is why he did this to me! Dammit I’m not gonna lose another friend to a Demon!” Neku screamed in his head

 

As Anthony walked over to Rhyme, Neku then heard an awful sound that enraged him, choking.

 

“Nooooo!” Neku screamed

 

As Anthony squeezed Rhyme’s neck, she then began to feel determination. Not wanting all of Neku's effort to be for nothing. She then opened her eyes and became her powered up Angel form and became lightning blasting Anthony away from her.

 

 

"LEAVE NEKU ALONE!" Rhyme screamed

 

 

She then became multiple beams of lightning slashing Anthony dozens of times befor smashing him onto the ground. She then unleashes a massive explotion burning Anthony's clothes and almost knocking him out. He then sees Rhyme almost pass out and revert back to her spirit form, causing him to walk back to her smiling.

 

 

"Rhyme...she really did it. She actually hurt him!" Neku thought amazed

 

 

He then was filled with worry as he sees him approach Rhyme. He then grabs Rhyme by her neck and began choking her but a black blur knocked Anthony away from her. Neku then appeared and leaped into the air and unleshed demon fire at Anthony as he attempted to round house kick him in the stomach. Anthony of course dodged the attack and sent a gust of wind to send Neku flying back.

 

When Anthony attempted to punch Neku in the face, he bit Anthony’s right forearm and dug his shark like teeth into Anthony’s skin.

 

Neku then remembered how some wild animals tear apart their prey, by viciously shaking their head back and forth, to use that motion to break their prey's neck, hoping he could trigger something similar to that to Anthony's arm, making it feel like his arm was broken.

 

Seeing this as a way to hurt his enemy, Neku did the same thing causing Anthony to scream as he managed to slide his arm away from Neku shocked to see his energy leaking out of him. Neku then lungged at Anthony again and bit his left arm this time, latching onto Anthony’s arm determined not to let go.

 

Seeing this as a way to severely hurt Neku even more, Anthony then smiled and began punching Neku’s head over and over, slamming his fist into Neku’s forehead. Each hit had so much force to it that Neku felt like he was getting a bat swung against his head. Each time the powerful Demon’s fist slammed into Neku’s head, it caused him to whimper in pain.

 

“Nnngh! C-Can’t let go” Neku thought

 

Anthony then punched him again

 

“Nnngh…no…I have to dig deeper” he thought again

 

Anthony then punched Neku’s head again with so much force that demon energy was now leaking out of Neku’s forehead.

 

“no…Phones! He’s killin’ you yo! You gotta let go Neku!” Beat said mentally

 

“Nnngh! NO! I can’t….Nnngh! I can’t let him near Rhyme and hurt her again!” Neku thought back

 

Anthony then began to laugh as more demon energy leaked out of Neku’s head as he punched Neku again. By now Neku was in so much agonizing pain that he cringed in pain, with him squeezing his eyes tighter and tighter with each hit

 

“Neku…please…just let go…I know you’ll figure something out” Eri thought saddened by seeing him so hurt

 

"Can't let go...I can't let go." Neku thought back again

 

Now as a result of Neku being in so much pain his grip began to weaken and he changed back to his normal form other than his teeth. Changing his plan yet again, Anthony now saw this as his chance to finally kill Neku.He slid his arm away from Neku, seeing the tired boy nearly pass out, holding onto his right arm while panting out of breath. He mimicked Mr. H’s attack and recreated the instant kill shot in his right hand, something that terrified Neku’s friends.

 

As Neku panted from exhaustion, he opened his eyes no longer cringing from Anthony punching him, he then felt his eyes widen as he saw Mr. H’s attack…but now recreated with demon energy.

 

At that moment a ball of light appeared and became Mr. H’s human form. Neku then looked at his Guardian friend (still terrified) but glad to see him there. Anthony then allowed his instant kill shot to dissolve and smiled at the Guardian Angel.

 

“another time Sanae” Anthony said teasingly

 

He then teleported himself back to the demon realm where his arm was fixd by the real Anthony before going back inside him.

 

“Mr. H what’re you doing here?!” Neku said shocked

 

The laid back Angel then walked towards Neku but then stopped for a breif moment, he then snapped his fingers unfreezing all of Neku’s friends causing them to run up to him. Mr. H then walked up to Neku and rubbed Neku’s head with his right hand.

 

“You okay there champ?” Mr. H said worried by Neku panting out of breath while using his right arm as a crutch to hold himself up.

 

“yeah I think so I…Nnngh! My head” Neku said weakly

 

“Phones!” Beat shouted “You got a hole in ya head yo! That Demon Punk it chu so hard ya energy's leakin' out!”

 

Neku then placed his right hand on his forehead expecting to feel his head but instead felt something hot, like his hand was getting a sun burn, 

 

“my energy?” Neku thought still feeling disoriented

 

Mr. H then saw how Neku’s eyes were half way open and began to fall forward, and placed his hands on Neku’s shoulders, steadying him while simultaneously healing him of his wounds. He then closed his eyes and a white aura surrounded Neku healing him of all the cuts and wounds he had including healing his fore head. Mr. H then opened his eyes an backed away from Neku.

 

“Feel any better Phones?” Mr. H said concerned

 

“Yeah…a lot better actually. Thanks Mr. H” Neku said relived that Mr. H had saved him yet again.

 

His friends then all urgently asked the same question and he reassured them that he feels better now.

 

“good, in that case we can finally start your training Neku” Joshua said with a smug smile

 

“What?! No! Neku you should rest! You were hurt by Anthony again and--

 

Neku then walked over to Shiki.

 

“thanks Shiki but…I really do feel a lot better. A little sore, but better. I have to go achieve God Status, but don’t worry about me. I’m fine…that’s a promise” Neku said with his hand on his hip wearing a smug smile

 

Shiki then did her usual gesture when she giggled, happy to see him really feeling better.

 

“Okay, if you say you’re better than I believe you Neku” she said smiling with her right hand on her hip and left hand up

 

“Alright so everything’s all settled? Then come on Neku” Joshua said sternly

 

“Hold up yo!” Beat shouted running to Neku

 

He then looked at Neku with sad eyes

 

“Why man, why’d you tough it out for Rhyme yo? She ain’t ya sister or somethin’ you didn’t have ta do alla that yo. So…why? Why’d you go through alla that for my li’l sister?” Beat said hanging head clasping his shoulder

 

“Screw you” Neku said crossing his arms

 

“Whachu say?!” Beat snarled

 

“You really think I would just stand there and let her get hurt? C’mon man you said it yourself, we’re brothers. So that means that Rhyme’s my sister too. I can’t just let her lose everything like that…not after we fought so hard to get Rhyme back.” Neku said sternly with his right hand in his pocket with his left hand facing upward

 

“Phones” Beat said weakly

 

“Rhyme’s saved my ass from Soul Obstruction, and she even became an Angel to fight Anthony to help protect me too. so it’s the least I could do for her” Neku added

 

“Neku…I never knew you…felt like that yo. To know that man…

 

Beat then looked up at him and smiled

 

“thanks”

 

“heh heh, anytime bro” Neku also said smiling

 

Rhyme then ran up to Neku and leaped forward and hugged him, startling him a little, but then caused him to wrap his arms around her.

 

“Thank you Neku…you were really taking a risk by protecting me. You had me so worried.” Rhyme said mentally

 

“Don’t mention it Rhyme. It’s like what I told you in the RG remember? That I’d always be there for you. …I couldn’t just sit back and let him hurt you…I don’t want you to know what it’s like to fight a demon as strong as him.” Neku replied back

 

They then let go of their embrace and Joshua then looked at him

 

“Alright, so you’ve taken care of everything? Good cause we need to get going Neku. This training is going to take a while so you won’t see your friends again for quite some time.” Joshua said sternly

 

“Huh? What do you mean?” Eri said curiously

 

“Well, before Neku can even attempt to achieve God Status, there’s a lot he needs to work on Eri. But don’t worry, once Neku’s done we’ll send him back so he can recover his strength. If everything goes alright he’ll just be exhausted in the end that’s all” Joshua said not wanting to hint too much at what Neku’s fate could be

 

“Oh…well okay. That’s fair I guess.” Eri said a little disappointed that she wouldn’t get to know Neku a little better before he left for training.

 

She then walked up to him and smiled as she hugged him, causing him to hug her back.

 

“Good luck with your training. We’ll see you when you get back” she said happily

 

Knowing that she wouldn’t see her fiery haired friend for a while Shiki then hugged him too. It was almost like he was moving away, now that they finally have their friend back, they didn’t want to let him go

 

“Yeah we’ll try to not get too bored with you gone” Shiki added smiling at him with her hands behind her back 

 

Beat then walked up to him and gave him another nuggie making Neku laugh and smile.

 

“Heh heh, thanks guys…and…don’t worry, I’m gonna get through all of this so we can finally just…hangout again.” Neku said smiling

 

Joshua then opened a portal and walked inside it along with Neku and Mr. H following him

 

“You can do this Neku” Shiki thought in her head

 

Neku, Mr. H and Joshua then walked out of the portal to see that he was back in the Composer district.

 

“Alright first off, before we even attempt to get you to become the Ultimate God, with limitless power, we’ll have to start out small and help you get their little by little.” Joshua explained

 

“that’s a good point Boss, you see Phones there’s some other stuff that Josh and I wanna help ya with before you try that. In the long run this extra stuff will help you become a lot stronger.” Mr. H added

 

“Sweet! So what’ll we start with first?” Neku asked curiously

 

“Well, first I’m going to show you the benefits of being dead Neku. As you know, you’re no longer human, but rather the energy that lays dormant within humans, their Souls. ever since you accepted that you're dead, you were able to let go of some human tendencies. After all, it’s more common for the Souls of children and teenagers to struggle with letting go of earthly behavior.” Joshua pointed out

 

“So what’re trying to say?” Neku asked crossing his arms

 

“think back to when you first fought Clarissa, do you remember what happened to you after she wounded you?” Joshua asked seriously

 

“Yeah…I remember puking up orbs of energy and...I'm pretty sure I saw little bit of blood…but ever since I saw my own body get cremated, ever since I saw myself dead I….don’t do that anymore.” Neku said weakly from remembering how sad his parents were

 

“exactly, so by doing that you were able to accept that you were dead causing you to lose that earthly attachment, thinking that you’ll lose blood if you get hurt.” Joshua explained

 

“Now that you’ve accepted death, I’ll now help you understand death” Joshua added

 

“Understand it? Joshua what’re you talking about?” Neku said weakly

 

Joshua then chuckled and began to walk away

 

“Follow me” he merely replied

 

Neku roamed the Composer district and noticed that Joshua was leading him to the cities nd mountains. He and Mr. H teleported to the top of it causing Neku to do the same.

 

“Alright, now your first lesson will begin. Since you’re a Ghost I’m going to teach you how to take advantage of this. Although this is usually something that Human Souls figure out on their own, you’re going to be taught this” Joshua said with his hands in his pockets with a smug smile

 

“Teach me what?” Neku asked

 

“Hee hee, now where’s the fun in this if I tell you everything?” Joshua said pulling back his hair smiling

 

“Josh?” Neku said a little worried

 

Without any hesitation Joshua merely smiled at Neku and pushed him.

 

“Hee hee, have fun Neku” Joshua said waving goodbye

 

Neku felt his eyes widen as he was falling backwards

 

“Josh WHAT THE HEEEELL?!” Neku screamed angrily

 

“Don’t worry" Mr. H said telepathically “Nothin’s gonna happen to ya, remember what Josh said Phones, this part of your training”

 

“Training for what?!” Neku said mentally “How to kill your Proxy?!”

 

“Ha ha, don’t worry Phones, I know it doesn’t seem like it but Josh DID do this for a reason” Mr. H said back

 

Joshua then lets out his sinister laugh getting a little caught up in the moment, but then became serious remembering why he did that to Neku.

 

“Go on Neku, do it. Remember that as a ghost you are energy, you no longer have flesh and bones to weigh you down…you can fly."  Joshua said telepathically

 

“What?! How do I--

 

“that’s for you to find out” Joshua said back

 

Mr. H then gave Neku a little hint, hoping it would help Neku have an idea of what to do next

 

"You've done this before remember? Think back to the Reaper's Game, it'll give you the answer you need.” Mr. H said telepathically

 

"Something I did before? back in the Reapers' Game?" Neku thought back

 

 

Neku fell for what felt like at least two minuets

 

“It’s funny” he thought “this…actually feels…cool. Is Josh just screwing with me again or does he really mean it?”

 

“I can fly?” he thought "I don’t have anything to weigh me down…just like how birds can fly cause they have hollow bones. So I can fly...right?”

 

 

 

"this feeling, feeling wind all around me. It feels familiar. I remember some of my Psychs would let me float in the air and some would even let me teleport in the air but...flying? Wait...didn't I do that with one of the Game masters? Yeah...It has to be one of them." Neku thought as he was realizing what to do

 

“Wait…that’s right! I remember now! it was when Beat and I were fighting her that girl Konishi! at one point we were flying right above Shibuya!"

 

“I can fly” Neku thought again “I can fly”

 

He then closed his eyes and just focused on that thought only listening to the wind as whistled by him ad he fell, and the flapping sound of his shirt and shorts flying in the breeze, making him feel a little chilly

 

“I can fly… I CAN FLY! I _WILL_ FLY!”

 

The moment he opened his eyes he felt himself assend upwards while floating in the air.

 

“Aw snap! I…I really--

 

“this is…so rad” Neku said quietly

 

He then tried to fly forward towards the mountain but by doing this he flew a little too fast and nearly crashed into it

 

“Crap what do I do?! WAIT! I’ve done this before! In the Reapers' Game, and here in the Higher Plane I flew as an Angel and Enlighten…so….I’ve got this!” he thought

 

The moment he felt confident in himself he had complete control over his flight and managed to fly back to the top of the mountain to a very pleased Joshua and Mr. H who were sitting on the mountain.

 

“heh heh there you go Phones!” Mr. H said happily

 

“Hee hee good work Neku” Joshua being a snob as usual

 

“Rrrgh! You little piece of snot! You wanted to do that didn’t you?!” Neku shouted angrily making Joshua look at him curiously

 

“Whatever do you mean Neku? I was merely helping you with your training…hee hee” Joshua replied

 

Neku then groaned

 

“Uh-huh and by _help_ you mean, take me to a really tall mountain and push me off the edge of it letting me think I was about to fall to my death. Dammit Josh you really know how to freak people out you know that?” Neku said crossing his arms as he floated back to the mountain

 

“Oh Neku, human emotions are very easy to manipulate. Now anyways back to business” Joshua said ashe got up

 

“Now I’ll show you another thing that’ll help you understand death. As a human soul, you no longer have lungs, or any other human functions. In other words, you don’t need air Neku.” Joshua added

 

Neku, catching on to what Joshua was talking about gasped feeling nervous

 

“wait a minute Josh! You’re not gonna…choke me to make me learn not to breathe are you?” Neku asked urgently

 

Joshua then sighed

 

“well no, since you just said that” Joshua said crossing his arms

 

Mr. H then sighed and scratched his head

 

“you really are such a twisted kid Josh” Mr. H said chuckling

 

Neku then scratched his head feeling a little awkward

 

“Yeah, way to make my training feel like attempted murder Joshua” he said bashfully

 

Joshua then pulled back his hair and smiled

 

“Alright, then how do you propose we handle this?” Joshua asked

 

“well how about instead of choking poor Phones, he simply holds his breath?” Mr. H suggested

 

Joshua than crossed his arms

 

“Fine we’ll do it the boring way” Joshua said a little annoyed

 

“the boring way? Seriously Josh…you’re so messed up” Neku thought feeling awkward

 

Mr. H then chuckled and reassured Neku that Joshua really is trying to help, even if he seems a little hostile from time to time, and that deep down Joshua just wants Neku to succeed

 

“alright I think for now I’ll take over” Mr. H said smiling

 

“Um Josh do ya want some space…you know to go do your job?” Mr. H said sensing that maybe Joshua needed to let out some urges

 

“Oh sure Mr. H that’s a good idea I’ll be back in a bit” Joshua said with his hands in his back pockets

 

Joshua then teleported away from the mountain, got far away from them and went full blast, he then opened a portal to the RG and began bringing humans to the Afterlife.

 

Mr. H then sighed and scratched his neck

 

“Sorry about earlier Joshua’s a good kid and he means well, he just…happens to also be lonely and also struggles with showing how he feels” Mr. H said still scratching his neck

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“yeah…heh heh, I guess that’s sort of a good thing, after all there’s been tons of times where if it wasn’t for him…I’d be gone right now. No matter how much Joshua pisses me off…I…I know in the long run that he’s…my friend” Neku said weakly

 

Mr. H then smiled at him

 

“You know between you and me Phones, I think he sees you the same way too. He’s just having a hard time accepting it. I mean think about it, you, what you are right now, is a direct result of him cutting your life short. That’s why it’s a little awkward for Death Gods to be around Human Souls, you’re the direct result of their meddling.”

 

“huh…I never really thought of it that way” Neku said crossing his arms feeling thoughtful

 

Mr. H and Neku then looked at each other and smiled both hoping that one day Joshua would just accept Neku. They then continued with his lesson

 

“alright now, what I want you to do is very simple. Just hold your breath and then we’ll go from there.” Mr. H explained

 

Neku then nodded in understanding and took a deep breath of air and closed him mouth.

 

“Good job Phones see, easy right? Now how’re you feeling?” Mr. H asked

 

"So far so good. nothing other then pockets of air in my cheeks" Neku replied mentally

 

"alright, good. now let's wait a few seconds" Mr. H said telepathically

 

after that, they waited a few seconds

 

"How about now?" Mr. H asked out loud

 

“Mr. H! My chest is getting tighter!” Neku said mentally to his mentor

 

“Phones it’s okay you’re just panicking. Your friends have done this before, they’ve stood completely still not breathing at all when they were getting ready to attack the Scouters to come find you remember? So you can do that too!” Mr. H said reassuringly

 

“Don’t worry I’m gonna walk you through this okay?” Mr. H said as he walked closer to Neku

 

“this is another part of understanding death. You don’t have lungs Phones, it’s okay. Let go of that living tendancy. Just close your eyes and focus on that okay? You’re dead, you’re a ghost, you don’t need to breathe.”

 

Neku then did as Mr. H instructed and focused on those thoughts

 

“I’m dead” Neku thought “I don’t need to breathe”

 

“I’m dead” he thought again

 

Neku then said that in head again and again

 

“I’m dead, I don’t need to breathe…I’m dead”

 

He then focused just on those words, not on Mr. H being next to him not on the sound of wings flapping of other Angels flying by him, just those words

 

As Mr. H stood in silence he smiled as he sensed how Neku’s energy was becoming less frantic, and more at peace.

 

“there you go Neku, I’m proud of you” Mr. H thought happily

 

Before he knew it the tightening in his chest was gone, and Neku felt at peace, relaxed.

 

“huh? I don’t feel like I’m suffocating?…then that means that--

 

“that you did it” Mr. H said aloud picking upon Neku’s thoughts

 

Neku then opened his eyes (though his cheeks were still puffed out) and looked at his angelic friend.

 

“Feel pockets of air in your cheeks?” Mr. H asked

 

Neku then lets out what was air so all it was now was the sound of him sighing

 

“Nope…so…that’s what it’s like…heh to think that I could hold my breath forever, kinda weird since I’m used to needing to breathe.” Neku said smiling

 

“heh, exactly but that’s what this training is, to show you what you can do now that you don’t have those human like qualities holding you back” Mr. H said smiling.

 

“What I’m gonna show you now is how to apply this when fighting” Mr. H said getting serious

 

Neku’s smile then vanished and he felt his eyes widen

 

“What?! Mr. H don’t! You can’t!” Neku shrieked

 

He then hid his face in his funnel collar

 

“I…I can't fight you...I don't want to. I don’t want you to hurt me” he said weakly at the thought of Mr. H strangling him

 

Mr. H, sensing a deep sadness in him, at the thought of fighting the man he respects so much, walked up to Neku and placed his hand on Neku’s left shoulder

 

“Phones…you know that I would never hurt you right? I…I know that sounds hypocritical considering what I did in the Angels’ Game…but if I hadn’t had done that then, I would’ve been killed on the spot if I didn't at least _attempt_ to kill you. But that was all part of the Game remember? I would never do that to you.” Mr. H said reassuringly

 

Neku then raised his head to look at Mr. H

 

“CAT…” Neku said weakly “thanks”

 

Mr. H then smiled and patted Neku’s head

 

“don’t mention it Phones” he said happily

 

He then backed up from Neku and took a deep breath

 

“Now then, in order for this to feel as real as possible I’ll have to attack you okay?” Mr. H said sternly

 

“Yeah” Neku said clasping his shoulder

 

At that moment Mr. H then disappeared right before his eyes.

 

“huh? Mr. Hanekoma? ...Sanae?” Neku said curiously

 

He then got into his fighting position

 

“alright…he’s gonna do it so…I have to get ready” Neku thought

 

Neku looked in all directions but nothing happened, Neku then got out of his fighting stance and began to walk around. as he did, he flashed back to when he was filled with sadness at the thought of fighting CAT as the Composer

 

_"come on out Composer! Fight me! this is what you wanted right?!" Neku roared shaking his fist_

_he then slouched and cried at the thought of fighting CAT_

_"Come out and fight...Mr. H"_

 

“Where is he?” Neku thought

 

As soon as he thought that a gust of wind slashed Neku’s funnel collar and felt someone squeeze his neck with both hands making Neku gasp

 

“Nnngh! Mr. Hane..koma!” Neku whimpered

 

The angel then uncloaked himself and squeezed Neku’s neck even tighter causing Neku to wheeze

 

“Neku stop!” Mr. H said sternly “You don’t need to breathe remember? If a demon was doing this to you, you’d be in a lot of trouble right now. You gotta fight that reaction”

 

“I have to make this as real as possible. I'm so sorry Neku” Mr. H thought sadly

 

He then squeezed Neku’s neck even tighter causing Neku’s eyes to widen

 

“C’mon Phones, you can do this. There’s only so much I can do for ya.” Mr. H said trying to encourage him

 

“close your mouth” Neku thought

 

As hard as it was for him, Neku then began to fight that reaction and tried to stop wheezing by closing his mouth. He then clenched is teeth determined to lock his jaw in that postion (even though he technically doesn’t have a jaw) and closed his eyes causing Mr. H to smile

 

“I don’t need to breathe” Neku thought

 

He then opened his eyes noticing that Mr. H had loosened his grip and then gently lowered Neku to the ground.

 

“Good job Phones” Mr. H said said smiling

 

“thanks Mr. H” Neku said smiling

 

After allowing Neku to rest a little they then focused on getting that result faster. As Neku got better at controlling his reaction he then snuck an attack in and launched his energy at Mr. H causing him to teleport away from Neku so he wouldn’t get hit.

 

“there you go Phones! Now if a demon does this to ya you’ll know what to do now” Mr. H said proud of him

 

“yeah thanks CAT” Neku said smiling

 

At that moment Joshua had returned (in his human form) and walked up to them

 

“So how’d our little pupil do Mr. H?” Joshua asked curiously

 

“He did great boss, and now has learned how to let go of his human tendencies. He now no longer feels like he needs to breathe” Mr. H said smiling

 

“Good” Joshua said smiling, “now we’ll be able to focus on opening his mind”

 

 

To be continued…


	11. Opening the Mind

Neku then looked at Joshua a little confused unsure of what his next part of his training would be, but was glad that Mr. H would be there to look after his menacing Death God of a friend.

 

“Open my mind? What do mean Joshua?” Neku said curiously

 

He then looked at Neku with his usual smug smile

 

“This part of your training will help you learn of the possibilities you can have here, how you’ll be able to withstand your more powerful forms by strengthening your mind. Simple really.” Joshua said with his hands in his front pockets

 

Neku then simple sighed and placed his left hand by his head, and right hand on his waist again

 

“Uh-huh, simple…riiiight, that’s easy for you to say Josh. I mean you’re…a God of Death.” Neku said annoyed

 

Joshua then placed his right hand on his mouth and placed his left hand in his back pocket, contemplating Neku’s statement.

 

“True, I suppose the transition from a normal human, to an eternal energy being, a God of Death, was easier for me since I did it in the UG, less stress on the soul during the change.” Joshua said thoughtfully

 

“So…I guess we should get started with--

 

“Oh no” Neku said cutting of Joshua “Don’t even think about it! There’s no way in hell I’ll keep training here!”

 

Joshua then let’s out his snobbish laugh and pulls back his hair again

 

“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you’re still mad about earlier Neku?” Joshua said slyly

 

“Damn straight I am!” Neku screamed shaking his fist “You pushed me OFF OF A MOUNTAIN! I mean seriously Joshua! You could’ve killed me!”

 

Joshua then groaned and placed his arms by his sides again, becoming more serious

 

“Neku…remember that you’re a ghost. So falling from a certain height wouldn’t have killed you.” he said sternly

 

Hearing something so…odd made Neku calm down and become confused

 

“Huh? What do you mean? You’re saying that I can fall from any height and…not get hurt?” Neku said crossing his arms

 

“Exactly Neku…it’s all in your Mind. As a Spirit, a Human Soul, you’re able to survive wounds that would automatically kill humans, just like when you were in the UG.” Joshua replied

 

Neku then looked at Joshua in shock at the mere thought of that

 

“whoa…so…it really is all in my head? That’s what’s been holding me back?” Neku asked amazed

 

Joshua then smiled a little and nodded his head

 

“Yup that’s what I want to teach you Neku. Do this, and it’ll help becoming a Limitless God a bit easier. It’ll also help you get used to your other forms like when you wield the powers of a Death God” He added

 

Neku then looked down also smiling a little

 

“Heh…a Death God…it’s still something I have a hard time wrapping my mind around…all of this really…that in the UG I was partnered up with my killer, and now of top of that…to know that that same person is…a god…it’s…all just…so much for me to take.” he said weakly

 

“Yeah…I could sense that when you first came here Phones” Mr. H added “I could also sense how it was hard for you to see what I really am”

 

Neku then looked up at Mr. H

 

“Well I knew that there was something special about you the moment I met you in the UG. Everything you said just…clicked, like I finally found someone who understands me.” Neku said with a smug smile with his hand on his waist

 

Mr. H then laughed happy that Neku means so much to him and patted Neku’s head, causing him to chuckle.

 

“Well as touching as this is we should get started now” Joshua said smiling a little

 

Neku then immediately went back to being annoyed and crossed his arms

 

“Alright, but NOT HERE” Neku said sternly

 

Joshua then groaned

 

“Fine, where do you want to go Neku?” Joshua asked

 

Neku then wore his smug smile again

 

Finding an agreement Joshua, Mr. H and Neku then all teleported to the Floating Islands.

 

Joshua then wore his usual smug smile with his hands in his back pockets

 

“Work for you?” he asked

 

Neku then glared at Joshua, hiding his mouth from his Composer friend

 

“Whada you think?” Neku snarled

 

Joshua then sighed

 

“Alright if you’re going to be that way…

 

Joshua then focused some of his true strength into his fingers and flicked Neku’s forehead. The next thing he knew, Neku was knocked back with a massive amount of force.

 

“JOSHUAAAAAAA!” Neku screamed

 

Joshua then merely smiled and waved goodbye as Neku fell off of the island

 

“Buh-bye” Joshua said feeling rather smug

 

Neku then glided back up to the island glaring at Joshua. Without speaking a single word he then glided closer to Joshua and picked him up by the collars of his shirt.

 

“Neku?” Joshua thought confused

 

Neku then smiled and dropped Joshua. The Composer fell for a few seconds (ten to be exact) just to mess with Neku even more.

 

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten…alright I’ll go back now” Joshua thought

 

 

But just as Neku was starting to worry about Joshua’s safety in a blink of an eye, he teleported back to the island to a startled Neku.

 

“DAMMIT JOOOOOOOSH! YOU COULD’VE DONE THAT ANYTIME?! I THOUGHT IS WAS FUNNY AT FIRST BUT…RRRRGH! WHY’D YOU WAIT?! I HONESTLY THOUGHT I MIGHT’VE KILLED YOU AND--

 

Joshua then placed his and on his chin looking at Neku curiously

 

“As much as I appreciate your concern…I’m a god, remember?” Joshua said reminding Neku

 

“huh? Oh…oh yeah um…well it doesn’t help that you’re always in your human form when you’re around me” Neku said scratching his head feeling a little embarrassed

 

Joshua then lets out his sinister laugh and pulled back his hair

 

“What’s wrong? If I didn’t know any better, I would say you were really worried about me, hee hee.” Joshua said slyly

 

Neku then groaned and then took a deep breath and sighed

 

“Let’s just start my training okay Josh?” Neku said hiding his mouth again and crossing his arms.

 

“Hee hee, yes sir” Joshua replied with his hands in his back pockets

 

Joshua then sighed and became more serious

 

“Alright, now before we begin, I’ll answer what’s on your mind. How is it I’m able to grab you when your mom couldn’t do that. It’s basically very simple. Your mother has a different Soul Code. She’s alive, and I'm immortal. Even though I am human, when one becomes the Composer, they become a god. An immortal energy being is beyond the RG,” Joshua said nonchalantly

 

“So it’s because of this that I can still interact with the dead, like you. That’s also why you were affected by objects and weapons in the Angels’ Game. The dead can affect the dead…and the living, but since it’s not allowed, spirits don’t really interact with the living like they used to.” he added

 

“Yeah…that one I understand” Neku said with his hands in his pockets

 

“Mom” he thought sadly “Are you and dad okay? I know before the Reapers' Game we had a lot of issues, but when I came back to life again, we started to get along better. What about my kitty? How long has it been since I died?”

 

Joshua then noticed how Neku completely hid his face till only his bangs showed.

 

“Neku?” Joshua said curiously

 

Neku then raised his head

 

“Huh? Oh…I’m fine” Neku said weakly

 

“alright, then we’ll get started. Opening up your world involved you taking on new experiences as you know no doubt. However being in the Higher Plane allows you to take this a step further.” Joshua explained

 

“Are you familiar with meditation Neku?” Joshua asked

 

“No…well I know what that is but I’ve never done it before” Neku answered

 

“Okay then, what we're going to do, is going to be similar to that” Joshua added

 

“And don’t worry I’ll be here to make sure nothing happens Phones” Mr. H said smiling

 

Neku then looked back at him

 

“yeah…thanks” he said smiling back

 

“Think about how in the Reapers' Game, the Player Pin gave you the ability to read people's minds, or in my case, see visions of one's memories. Being able to do this will help you gain control over your mind and what you see” Joshua continued

 

“So you’re saying that doing that here will help me have more of an understanding of my Composer form and Angel form? That I’ll be more comfortable in them?” Neku asked

 

“Exactly, first we’ll focus on just opening your mind though” Joshua responded

 

“Close your eyes Neku…

 

He then did just that, and placed his hands on his head as he concentrated

 

“good, now I want you to only focus on the sound of my voice, and just…relax. If it helps, take deep breaths and let them out slowly, but remember, that you don’t need to do that. Only breathe if you feel like that will help you relax.” Joshua instructed

 

“Next, I want you to envision your Composer form, we’ll start with this one since it’s a little weaker than your Angel form. Picture the energy in your mind, can you see it Neku?”

 

“yeah” he replied “I’m white…outlined in a gray aura, and really tall, surrounded by stars in outter space”

 

“Very good Neku, for now just focus on that image and tell me what you feel” Joshua said calmly

 

As Neku concentraited, he began to get a gray aura around his body making Mr. H smile

 

“there you go Phones” Mr. H thought proudly

 

“what do you feel now Neku?” Joshua asked

 

“I feel…warm, but the energy I’m feeling, it feels a little…menacing but not evil. It doesn’t feel bad” Neku said feeling at peace

 

Joshua then smiled

 

“Good work Neku, you’re right now feeling Composer energy, or the energy of a Death God. Do you see anything else?” he asked

 

“yeah…my Death God form is in…space…its surrounded by stars and galaxies…heh heh, I think I can see the one I’m from, the milky way.” Neku said smiling a little

 

“he’s really doing it” Joshua thought “His mind’s opening up, allowing him to understand the afterlife’s connection to the universe. He just has to go a little further”

 

“Do you see anything else?” the Composer asked

 

“Yeah…” Neku said weakly

 

Mr. H noticed that the aura surrounding Neku began to shake rapidly in a fast wavy motion, like he was getting nervous and walked up to Neku quietly.

 

“I see something. I…I see some dark gray mist…it’s kinda hard to make out what it is though since its in space with me. But I also see a…dark purple aura around it…

 

Neku then felt chills go down his spine

 

“and it has red eyes…looking at me. It feels…familiar”

 

Joshua then looked at Neku wide eyed

 

“Neku it’s…okay just focus on your Death God form and--

 

“Joshua, it’s coming closer! I…Rrrrgh! Why does it feel so familiar?! Did I…did I turn into THIS?! When I lost who I was?!” Neku screamed frustrated squeezing his hair

 

He then saw his Virtuoso form get even closer, and its misty body began to engulf his Composer form, making the Composer Neku in the vision scream in pain. This then made his gray aura surge like lightning around him. Neku’s vision continued with his Composer form letting out a woeful cry as the Virtuoso form engulfed it more and more until it was swallowed in a plume of dark gray smoke. He then heard a familiar voice ring in his head:

 

 _“You need this energy, your more demon-like than Angel-like_   _”_

 

“NO!” Neku screamed instantly opening his eyes

 

 

“Phones!” Mr. H cried running to him

 

He then placed his hand on Neku’s back

 

 

“It’s just a vision it’s okay. Phones…Neku…it’s okay, it’s over. It’s just a vision.” Mr. H said trying to calm him down

 

 

Mr. H then pressed his hand on Neku’s back allowing the Composer energy to stabilize before going back in his body.

 

 

“Neku…are…you okay?” Joshua asked feeling a little worried (not that much though)

 

“I…I SAW HIM! IT! THAT FREAK THAT’S INSIDE ME!” Neku screamed

 

He then felt his head drop while his sadness increased

 

“The freak…that I was. I don’t want to be that again, but I can’t escape it. It’s there, it’s inside me. Even if I have full control over my demon energy, that THING that I saw…it could come back the moment I snap, the moment I just…get angry or…lose control over my emotions.” Neku said sadly

 

Mr. H then sat next to Neku looking at him with sad eyes, sensing the turmoil Neku was feeling, and placed his hand on Neku’s right shoulder.

 

“Phones…I know that had to have been scary for you, and I know how much that had to hurt, but it’s like I told ya before remember? You don’t think that you’re a monster right? Cause that’s not you kiddo, it never was.” Mr. H said empathetically

 

Neku then looked at Mr. H shocked to see his Angelic friend still wanting to support him

 

“Mr. H…Angels and Demons are enemies right? So then…that means that, that I’m--

 

“No you’re not Phones” Mr. H said refusing to hear it “you’re not my enemy. You’re not a demon, you’re a human soul and you’re NOT a monster. Never forget who you are.”

 

“That was your entry fee after all. That means that it’s obviously important to ya” he added smiling a little

 

“Huh?” Neku said a little confused

 

Mr. H then patted him on the head

 

“Your identity. You wanna know who I see?” he said looking into Neku’s eyes

 

“I see a smart, artistic, creative, and kind young man who lost his child-like innocence far too early. Most humans get a better idea of who they are as teenagers and young adults, but you…heh you’re ahead of the game kiddo, you already know who you are.” Mr. H said laid back

 

“But that’s because you learned that the hard way, by people hurting you for simply being yourself. And yet…even though it was hard, even though it hurts…you got through all of the things they threw at you. You never gave up on yourself. So don’t start now, cause that’s not the Neku I’ve come to know” he said wisely

 

Neku then hanged his head again, still filled with grief but was glad that Mr. H was there, helping him cheer up

 

“You…you always just…know what to say Mr. H. I don’t get it…even when I tried to kill you as Damien you still felt sad for me, you didn’t want to hurt me. I guess…I’m just…still getting used to this…

 

“Getting used to what?” Mr. H said curiously

 

Neku then turned to Mr. H and smiled

 

“Friends…heh heh”

 

Mr. H then patted Neku on the head again smiling

 

“Heh, heh, I’ll always be there for you, I won’t let anything happen to ya…that’s a promise. I know I promised that before, but I really mean it Phones” Mr. H said happily

 

Joshua then chuckled remembering how Mr. H had promised him that too back when he and Mr. H were still new to the Higher Plane.

 

“he really is good at his job, I guess that just comes naturally when you put so much pride and effort into it. It really is a passion for him. Even if he's more friends with me since I've known him longer, he seems to always want to reach out to others. In a way, this is sort of like what he told me when he became my Guardian Angel in the Higher Plane” Joshua thought smiling at his Guardian friend

 

“You know I have an idea Neku, I think it’ll help you make the vision process easier” Joshua said confident in his idea

 

Neku and Mr. H then looked at him

 

“Well what is it?” Neku said smiling

 

“think about how Shiki entered your mind, I think one way of helping you feel more confident in the control of your demon energy, is for you to try to control it from the inside. wouldn't you say?” Joshua said smiling a little

 

“Huh? But Josh…it’s not like I can just go inside my head…can I?” Neku said understanding what he meant

 

“Of course you can Neku, it IS your mind after all. So go on, the least you can do is try right?” Joshua said persistently

 

“Good idea Joshua. This ought to be easy for Neku since he's already in his own head so to speak, being a thoughtful person.” Mr. H said smiling

 

“Yeah” Neku said smiling at him

 

Mr. H then got up and gave him some space

 

Neku then stood up too and closed his eyes and placed his hands on his head again filled with determination, focusing on controlling his demon energy.

 

"I need to control my demon energy" he thought "it's apart of me so...I know I can handle this. I just have to get it stronger"

 

 

“Open up your senses” he said to himself

 

As Neku focused on controlling his energy, his Demon Energy began to grow a little stable, getting closer to being at full control so he could control his demon form again.

 

"It's working" he thought "The energy's burning me a little but it doesn't really hurt as much now. I'm done with this crap, I'm not gonna let it hurt me anymore!"

 

He then opened his eyes and saw he was in Shibuya again but noticed everything was less shiny. The city didn’t look like it was made of crystals and glass anymore.

 

“Huh? Am I in the RG?” he thought

 

He then walked around and noticed that the city was littered with…white masks. white masks were scattered on the streets as he no longer saw people as monsters hiding behind a fake smile wanting to hurt him, but rather as people. That everyone has a story to tell, that everyone in Shibuya is just wanting to clash and change, to expand their world.

 

Seeing so many masks on the floor made Neku a little emotional realizing what this means

 

“Shiki” he thought “this is…what she helped me see…no…what all of them helped me see.”

 

He then looked up to the sky to see that it was no longer cloudy like it was about to rain, and instead saw the sun shining.

 

“I can see things so differently now thanks to them…in a way…after those three weeks of the Reapers’ Game…it was like I was really seeing things that I just never noticed. I picked up on things, I probably would’ve just gone on ignoring.” he thought deeply

 

Neku then closed his eyes and just listened to the city for a little bit and then pictured his friends in his head

 

“I’m really glad I met you guys” Neku said aloud

 

He then opened his eyes again and started to head to his house. He eventually got there and headed towards his room when he finally stood in front of the door to his bedroom, he couldn’t help but feel hesitant

 

“Should I do it? Do I really want to go back? What if…I go back in there and…I can’t get out? No! I’ve got this…this for Shiki….for all of them” he thought reassuring himself.

 

He then twisted the doorknob and walked inside his room having the door slam shut behind him and noticed his room was a bit darker. As he walked around his bedroom, he noticed something from the corner of his eye and looked towards his mirror making him gasp

 

"Huh? How come There's demon energy inside my mind? I thought Shiki took it out of me" Neku said shocked

 

Seeing certain person as his reflection, making Neku walk to it.

 

“Well talk about walking into the lion’s den. What brings you here? This is honestly the last place I’d ever expect to see you.” the reflection said grinning

 

Neku then gasped out of shock

 

"Me?" he said weakly "But I'm not the Demon Lord anymore!  I thought Shiki removed my demon energy from my mind, how are you even here?" Neku yelled worried

 

"What you're seeing right now is a result of the Demon energy beginning to merge with you, rather than trying to possess you. I'm literally your Mirror Self, your reflection. That's why although Clarissa is no longer in your mind, l am here as a result of the merging" the reflection replied

 

"Although, as the former Demon Lord, I suppose that makes me represent the person you once were. I honestly thought I'd never see you back here" the reflection added

 

“Yeah? Well don’t get used to it, I’m only here to let you know who’s in charge here” Neku said sternly

 

Damien then sat up and merely shook his head

 

“really now? And how do you suppose you’re going to do that?” Neku's reflection said darkly

 

In the blink of an eye, Neku's reflection then reached towards Neku and tore his funnel collar and began to squeeze Neku’s neck with his left hand and slammed his head against the mirror

 

“nice try, but I don’t do the whole breathing thing anymore” Neku said strongly

 

He then began to whimper as he felt a sudden burning sensation, now that Damien knows that Neku doesn’t breathe, he’s making up for it by scorching his neck

 

“Nnnnnngh! Wha…what’re you doing?! You're the core of my demon energy! I store all of your power, including the demon energy! If I die, you die too remember?!” Neku shouted as he wheezed in pain

 

“Oh, I am well aware Neku, but I can’t help it! Now that you’re here…

 

the Demon Lord reflection then held his right hand out towards Neku’s bedroom door opening it

 

“I think I’ll take a stroll around the HP Shibuya now...and have a little fun with your friends. I never got to kill them like I wanted to” he said slyly

 

“Nnngh! D-Don’t even think about it!” Neku roared making the door shut

 

He then held out his hands blasting his reflection away from him with his energy, causing the demon core's form to land on the ground in the same position that Neku was in before getting shot

 

“Look, I didn’t come here looking for a fight. I came here to tell you something.” Neku said darkly while his funnel collar simultaneously fixed itself

 

“Oh really? Well I’m listening” Damien said as he got up

 

“I’m here to make a deal with you” Neku explained

 

“A deal? Interesting…go on” the demon core said smiling

 

“You know how Anthony’s trying to kill me right?” Neku asked crossing his arms

 

“Yes I’m aware, and quite frankly it’s rather annoying. As dull as it is being your reflection, instead of taking control over you, I’d rather not Fade away any time soon. What’s your point?” Damien said crossly

 

“My point is that I can’t lose to him…I can’t Fade away, and I know that without Clarissa, my Demon energy’s back to being that of a Mongrel…but all the effects Clarissa had on my Soul are still intact right?” Neku asked hoping he was right

 

“Exactly, although your demon energy is now that of a Mongrel, I, being your reflection, your other side, store all the side effects she had on you. This includes your connection to the most powerful depths of your Demon energy. It still exists, it always has, eversince the beginning the demon energy first went within you. Clarissa merely sped up the processes of your Demon energy growing in power"

 

Hearing his own self, say such a thing made Neku gasp and then squeezed his hair panicking as he realized what that meant

 

"NOOO! So you're saying that no matter what, I....I would've been possessed?! My Demon energy would've possessed me no matter what?!!" he cried out realizing how he would've been doomed without his friends

 

His reflection then leaned in close and placed his hand on Neku's left shoulder, talking right by his ear, being close enough for Neku to feel his face sting from Damien's cold breath, making him whimper in pain

 

 

"Exactly" the reflection snarled "You would've been lost no matter what you tried to do. There was nothing that could be done to prevent you from becoming The Demon Lord. The moment demon energy was first placed inside you--"

 

the reflection then whispered in his ear

 

 

"Your fate was sealed" 

 

 

"NOOOOO!" Neku roared smacking his reflection's hand away

 

 

"Rrrgh! That doesn't matter! My friends were still there for me and they saved me!" he yelled defiantly shaking his fist

 

 

"After you nearly killed them. After WE nearly killed them" his reflection said with a sly grin

 

 

"What YOU did back then, was you not even a the peak of your power. You had so much potential. And yet, as powerful as I am, I'm not strong enough to kill Anthony” he said smugly

 

“What? But in that hotel, as an illusion you said--

 

“I did say that, but I was merely toying with you, although I am still stronger than Cedric. Even with Clarissa gone I, being the true power of your Demon energy, am nearly at my original Virtuoso rank again…but not quite” he explained

 

Neku then hid his face in his funnel collar with his hands in his pockets feeling a little unsure of himself but then looked back up

 

“Then this is where my deal comes in…if I allow you to get to your Virtuoso rank again, you have to promise that when I tap into my demon form and go full demon, that I’ll still be in control, so I can use that amount of power against Anthony” Neku said strongly

 

Damien then lets out a cold, icy laugh

 

“You do realize what you’re asking for right? I could easily consume you with my power again and easily go serve the new Demon Lord, so we can take over the Higher Plane…

 

He then begins to walk closer to Neku and in the blink of an eye teleports to his face and rest his head on Neku’s right shoulder, and placed his left hand in Neku’s hair, playing with his ears. Doing so gave him déjà vu of Clarissa doing the same thing causing Neku to feel nervous

 

“After all” Damien whispered causing chills to go down Neku’s spine “With you out of the picture Anthony will have gotten his revenge…right?”

 

He then backed up pleased by Neku’s pale face.

 

Neku then closed his eyes and thought about how he wants to face his fear of demons. He then opened them feeling confident in his idea

 

“And then what happens after that? You’ll expand the demon realm? Then what’ll happen if the expanded version gets cluttered? Just take over another realm? It’s a lost cause!” Neku screamed shaking his fist

 

Damien then scowled

 

“then what do you propose we do? Your plan?” Damien said annoyed

 

“yeah” Neku said staring his demon energy down hiding his mouth

 

“Cause if you don’t do it…I’ll make sure you get killed” Neku said darkly

 

“A dog’s bark is often times worse than its bite Neku. I know you’re obviously bluffing. I mean really Neku, must you be so blatant about it?” Damien said teasingly with his left hand on his tie and right hand on his pocket

 

“I’m not lying” Neku said darkly “Shiki knows how to make a human form…she learned how to do that just incase anything happens to me. I’ll tell her to remove my demon energy, destroying the core and then seal me back in my body. Saving my life…and ending yours. Get the picture?”

 

Damien then looked at Neku in shock

 

“You’d really trust her to that extent?” he said regaining his composure looking at him confused with both hands in his pockets

 

“Definitely, since as you know, her Angel form’s as strong as Mr. H, so I know she can do it…so if you try to kill me…even once, I’ll tell her to do it.” Neku said threateningly

 

“Do we have a deal?” he asked crossing his arms

 

“You know it’s never good to trust a demon” Damien said smiling

 

“I DON’T trust you…I just need you to cut the crap before Anthony kills us both!” Neku said shaking his fist angrily

 

“so…I’ll say it again, do we have a deal?” he asked holding out his right hand

 

Damien’s grin increased even wider as he extended out his left hand

 

“deal” he said smiling

 

The moment their hands met Neku screamed as his demon energy began digging into his body making him scream in pain

 

“AAAAAAAAGH! D-Damien! Nnngh! Wh-What’re you doing?!” he shrieked

 

“this overpowering, burning energy, is YOUR energy surging into you Neku. With this, you’ll be at your original magnitude of power when you were a Demon Lord…A Virtuoso and don’t worry, I’ll make sure to not kill you…since Shiki’s such a risk to my life now” he said smiling

 

Neku then felt severely weak as the energy began to overpower him

 

“Nngh…was…this…the right…thing…to--

 

Neku then clenched his right arm in pain as he panted out of breath as the smoke disappeared as it all went inside his body. 

 

He then took a deep breath and closed his eyes

 

“now. I've got this" Neku said out loud

 

He then opens his eyes and lowers his hands from his focus pose down to his sides

 

“so? How’d it go?” Joshua asked

 

“Yeah you had us worried there sport, your Soul began to react to whatever was happening in your mind” Mr. H said concerned

 

“huh?” Neku said weakly

 

He then felt for his funnel collar with his right hand but instead felt his neck, which felt hot, like it was burned. He also has his shirt torn from when the plumes of smoke dug into him from earlier.

 

“You okay Phones? I tried waking you up but you couldn’t hear me” Mr. H added

 

Hearing that he was that far gone made Neku instantly look at Mr. H in shock

 

“What?!” he shrieked

 

Neku then (out of a force of a habit) hanged his head to hide his face (regardless of the funnel collar being nearly torn off)

 

“I…I was really that far gone?” Neku said nervously

 

Mr. H then placed his hand on Neku’s right shoulder again

 

“You really were. But the important thing is, is that you’re okay right?” he asked again

 

“Y-Yeah…it just took a while to get my Demon energy to not corrupt me” he explained "it even looked and acted like me too, when I was the Demon Lord, making it want to kill me and...hard to talk to"

 

“heh, I’ll say. That would explain why you were getting hurt.” Joshua said smugly

 

“Hey Josh, did something like this happen when Shiki came to find me?” Neku said hoping that not to be the case

 

“No…at least not from what I saw. She wasn’t hurt at all, but that’s probably due to how she didn’t get any serious wounds like how you did just now” Joshua explained

 

Neku then sighed relieved

 

“Good, I would’ve hated to have known that she got herself hurt…wait a minute…the headaches! Shiki had headaches! What were those Joshua?!” Neku said urgently

 

“well, that was a result of her having to use Imprint after Imprint on you, from saying certain words or phrases to having entire conversations be filled with command codes. It was to the point it was tearing her apart.” Joshua explained

 

“See, her imprinting was very advanced, something that only someone like Mr. H could pull off. but since his energy is inside her, that’s probably as to why she was able to push the imprinting that far. Either that or…maybe she just did it, after all your energy empowers her Neku.” he said smiling a little

 

Neku then hanged his head again

 

“Shiki…” he said in his head “I’m so sorry…I…I didn’t mean to push you so hard! If I had just known what was happening then…I’m…sorry”

 

Seeing how that saddened Neku, and how on top of that he’s gone through a lot in his training Joshua then thinks now would be a bad time to continue

 

“Um…Neku” Joshua said causing Neku to look up at the Composer

 

“Do you need a break? After all, it looks like you’ve taken a beating thanks to the Demon Core's illusion of Damien. I don’t think we should continue until you’re ready”

 

“Huh? Joshua’s WORRIED about me? No…no…that can’t be it…can it?” Neku thought

 

“Yeah good idea…and…thanks Josh” Neku said weakly

 

“Hm? For what?” Joshua said curiously

 

“Just…for doing this…you didn’t have to train me you know” Neku said sincerly

 

“Well it’s…like what I told you before Neku, so…that’s why I wanted to train you myself. After all, I’m also looking forward to showing you what the Afterlife is REALLY like. So you can truly know what it’s like to live here as a citizen of the Higher Plane.” Joshua said smiling a little

 

“Yeah…I guess this really is my home now so…I’m looking forward to that too Josh” Neku said smiling

 

Joshua then told Neku he could rest and lay in the grass or something, and that he and Mr. H would take a rest too. Joshua and Mr. H then teleported to another island to give Neku some space (but still be able to sense his energy)

 

The two longtime friends then laid in the grassy field of one of the islands

 

“hey Joshua, have you ever wondered what it’s like to sleep? Or to dream?” Mr. H asked

 

“Hmm, well given how much time we spend in our human forms, it is something I tend to wonder. Eversince becoming a God of Death, I haven't slept or had dreams in many years” Joshua replied

 

Mr. H then chuckled

 

“Well I guess now’s the best time to try that out huh?” he said laughing a little

 

“Yeah” Joshua said closing his eyes

 

Mr. H then noticed that Joshua was tossing and turning a bit trying to get into a comfortable position.

 

“Um, boss I think the point is to not move heh heh” Mr. H said chuckling

 

“oh” Joshua said opening his eyes “alright then”

 

Joshua then slept facing the right with his back facing Mr. H, the angel then slept in the opposite direction. Being the close friends they are, the energies of their true forms began to swirl inside them causing Mr. H and Joshua’s backs to heat up making them warm each other with their body heat.

 

Before Neku rested he then closed his eyes and thought about his wounds being healed causing his funnel collar to get fixed too. He then laid on his back and went to sleep filled with peace as he felt a gentle breeze blow the grass.

 

Feeling perhaps a little too comfortable they all slept for what felt like two hours before Mr. H and Joshua teleported back to Neku who for once, didn’t mess with him while he was still sleeping. Neku then yawned and saw his two immortal friends

 

“Hey guys” he said sleepily

 

“Hey there Phones, how’d you sleep? Feel any better?” Mr. H said smiling

 

“like a baby heh heh, and yeah I feel great” Neku said happy to see him

 

“Good, you know I think I kind of like naps” Joshua said thoughtfully

 

“huh? You actually pulled that off? Sweet” Neku said with a smug smile

 

 

“so ready to try this again?” Joshua asked

 

“yeah” Neku said ready

 

They tried the vision process with Neku again and now thanks to his deal with Damien he was able to focus on his Composer form without his demon energy trying to corrupt him. As Neku was surrounded by his Composer energy again it then began to engulf him until he became his Death God form, causing Neku to open his eyes

 

Joshua and Mr. H smiled seeing how he towered over them when he stood up. Joshua then snapped his fingers and went to his Composer form too.

 

“Heh, welcome back Neku. Now that you were able to let the Composer energy flow to this extent, I think we should train more on how to fight like a Composer.” Joshua said in his true voice

 

“Good idea…

 

Neku then gasped noticing how his voice was distorted, like multiple people were talking at once.

 

“Is that…MY voice?” Neku said curiously

 

“Mhm, that’s the true voice of a Composer. Being able to do that shows that you’re understanding what it means to be dead Neku. To let go of earthly attachments but not surrender who you are” Joshua said smiling a little

 

Mr. H then became his true form and flew up to his extremely tall friends

 

“And because of that now you can see what you can do as a Composer kiddo, after that I’ll help you feel more comfortable as an Angel. Then you’ll be even closer to getting ready to achieve God Status”

 

“heh yeah, I’m looking forward to it now. Thanks to you guys I feel…better about this, like I can handle this now” Neku said to Joshua and Mr. H

 

Joshua first decided to teach Neku how to fight as a Composer and use their mastery over death to cause severe wounds to enemies. He taught Neku how to imprint pain upon Noise that he created and commanded them to attack Neku. He then did as Joshua had taught him

 

He extends his right hand out to a pack of Noise and focused his thoughts to then unleash the imprint.

 

“ **Begone** ” Neku snarled

 

He then shot a sonic boom from his hand blasting the Noise into the air making some of the Noise howl in pain as they were blasted into the air. Neku then simply crossed his arms and created an orb the size of a boulder with his mind and hurled it at the Noise making it explode upon impact.

 

The Noise that had survived then charged at Neku causing him to uncross his hands and let out an inhuman roar as he shot a powerful blast of energy causing it to surge like fire as it crashed into the Noise making them all dissolve into static.

 

Joshua then nodded his head in approval

 

“Good job. You’re catching on very fast, how do feel about this? Do you still feel in control?” Joshua asked

 

“Yes I do…I feel strong, and empowered…but not like I’m going to lose myself” Neku said smiling a little

 

He and Joshua then brought humans to the afterlife as part of his training, being able to think more like a Composer it didn’t feel as awkward for Neku to kill humans now

 

“It’s rather intriguing isn’t it? How the humans are such fragile creatures and yet, through their imaginations, they were to accomplish many things. To harness the world around them and create new things, like the invention of steal, or the many civilizations that they inhabit. The future begins with you after all” Joshua said profoundly as he looked into the RG

 

“The future begins with you? You know, I never truly thought of it like that” Neku said thoughtfully

 

As their conversation continued while they brought humans to the afterlife…there was one thing that Joshua had brought up that brought Neku back to earth so to speak, to make him feel vulnerable.

 

“As wonderful as this is, the life of immortality, I’ll never know what it’s like to breathe, to have to value my life knowing that it could all come to a sudden halt. At least, not anymore. The last time I ever felt that was when I was your partner. It’s an inevitability of the living world Neku…nothing will last forever. Not even the strongest of bonds that we forge can defy that” Joshua said wisely

 

Neku then hanged his head and flashed back to when he first met Shiki, and Beat and Rhyme a few days later into the Reapers’ Game.

 

“If not even the strongest of bonds can defy that inevitability, then…why? What was the point of getting to know them, knowing that I’d only have them with me now that…we’re dead” Neku said sadly

 

Joshua then turned to Neku looking at him confused

 

“Friendship, comradery, what’s the point to any of it…if we’re all destined to lose it all?”

 

“Neku…fate doesn’t decide whether or not you’ll lose friends…although it DOES play a part in it. All of the events of the future are a cause of your actions, though not all of it is under your control. To live…or to end your life, to finish high school and get a career, or to not even try to get a job, even if you were to drop out of school. All decisions lead to a certain path Neku.” The Young Composer said sternly

 

 

“Yeah…and…since we’re dead I…I won’t have to worry about that anymore, right Josh?” Neku asked weakly

 

“Yes, so don’t worry Neku. You won’t lose them” Joshua said smiling at him a little

 

Mr. H sensing how Neku was deeply troubled and filled with heartache decided to intervene and flew over to Neku

 

“I think now’s a good time for me to take over, wouldn’t you say Boss?” Mr. H said hinting at Joshua what he was sensing

 

Joshua understanding what he was doing agreed with Mr. H

 

“Good idea Mr. H I’ll power down then” Joshua said snapping his fingers

 

He then became his human form and teleported to the ground and began to walk away to give Mr. H and Neku some distance seeing them teleport down to the ground and Mr. H power down to his human form and Neku to his spirit form

 

Mr. H then started the Vision process with Neku so he could adapt to his (and technically Mr. H’s) Angel energy and then asked Neku what he felt

 

“I…I feel so warm, it’s not burning though just nice. It’s…sorta like when it’s freezing outside and someone warms up by a fire…the warmth, it’s comforting” Neku said smiling a little

 

Mr. H then chuckled happy to see that his energy was able to soothe Neku and make him feel so calm and at peace of mind, like was happy

 

“Good, that’s the presence of Angel Energy sport, and not just my energy, but the presence of all Angels. Although we’re soldiers, we’re actually pretty laid back creatures. Now then, can you see it Phones, you know, your Angel form?” Mr. H asked smiling

 

“Yeah, it’s wings are huge…at least 17 ft long…and I see it’s in space” Neku said at peace

 

He then felt warmth on his shoulder blades and a white aura surrounding him. As soon as the energy appeared Neku then sprouted Angel wings causing him to open his eyes. The moment he did this Neku went full blast, becoming his Angel form. Mr. H then smiled and grew Angel wings and flew up to Neku

 

“heh, there you go Phones” Mr. H said happily

 

“Alright now that you’re mind’s expanded you can sense how each energy feels and let it flow to the point you transform, just like when you triggered your Angel form's powered up state, but this time, it was you and not an adrenaline rush. I’ll teach ya some of my techniques too and since you’re stronger than me, your attacks will pack even more of a punch because of that.”

 

Neku then looked at Mr. H in shock

 

“Aw snap!…you…you really mean that Mr. Hanekoma? I mean I know that since my wings are longer than yours that makes me stronger than you but…you really think I can do it?” he said stunned

 

Mr. H then smile and patted Neku’s head

 

“Heh heh, you bet I do” Mr. H said smiling

 

Mr. H first taught Neku how to generate the instant kill shot with Angel energy and increase its length. He then practiced how to attack with it by slashing Noise Mr. H created

 

“Good job. You know, you never cease to amaze me ha ha” his mentor said pleased

 

Mr. H then taught Neku the same attack he used on him in the Angels’ Game. Neku flew at Mr. H at blinding speeds to the point Neku became a white blur. Mr. H dodged the attack which then caused Neku to let out an inhuman roar as he engulfed his body as an orb of Angel energy and blasted it at his teacher. Mr. H then teleported away from the blast (now in his Angel form) and flew at Neku as white energy.

 

Neku then did the same and the two energies clashed pushing each other little by little until one of them dissolved. Mr. H then fell down but redirected himself with his wings. Neku then became his Angel form again and smiled at Mr. H.

 

“You’ve got the hang of this Phones” Mr. H said scratching his neck

 

After that Mr. H then showed Neku an ability that both an Angel and Composer share, the ability to alter or slow down time.

 

“So is that how you were able to program my cellphone to take pictures of the past?” Neku asked amazed

 

“Yup, although that’s classified as a Composer ability, it's something you originally unlock as the Conductor, then expand upon it as a Composer or Angel. your pal here just happened to learn how to expand on that ability and learned how to slow down time, and even alter it. Angels and Composers are very close in terms of power. So we share some abilities too” Mr. H said smiling with his right hand on his neck

 

He then looked back at Neku and smiled

 

“Now I’m gonna show you some tricks on flying”

 

He couldn’t help but feel happy passing on his techniques in fighting onto Neku, seeing how far he really has come.

 

“heh, before, back when he first got here, he struggled to just use the most basic Angel technique, creating orbs out of energy. Now look at him, he’s so strong now that he’s actually mastering my fighting style. Heh heh, he’s come a long way hasn't he?” Mr. H thought to report to the Higher Ups Neku’s growth

 

“Yes indeed he has Sanae, truly Neku Sakuraba is an amazing boy, and to think that there are so many other spirits like him here too. But then again he IS a Higher Mind, such a range in power is to be expected” Aiden said telepathically

 

Mr. H taught Neku how to use flight to become more agile when flying by teaching him how to dodge energy blasts. He first fired pillars of energy and made them land at different spots so Neku could dodge them.

 

He did well flying around the energy but struggled making sharp turns. So he worked on that for a bit. After mastering that he worked on his speed to fly around the energy faster. Then finally the real test of flight would begin for him. After seeing Neku’s progress Mr. H then snapped his fingers making the pillars of energy dissolve.

 

“Alright let’s see how you do now Phones” Mr. H said smiling

 

He blasted energy at Neku causing him to make sharp turns to dodge the five beams of energy and flew down to Mr. H

 

"You're doing great. Now I'll teach you how to activate your Angel form's true power" Mr. H said smiling

 

"My Angel form's true power? You mean, that state when I saw my Angel Wings looked like fire?" Neku remarked

 

"Yes, that's exactly it. Angel Energy is stored within our wings but the wings themselves act more like a cover, hiding their true form beneath them. By using your mind, if you focus your energy on your wings and you make them dissolve, you'll unleash your true state of power. It takes a lot of concentration to simply remove this cover though. You don't want to actually dissolve your wings since that's dangerous and can weaken you." the Guardian said sternly

 

"This state of power will drain you very fast though unless you practice gaining stamina so you're not as tired. A Natural Angel doesn't have to worry about this though, and I don't since I've been an Angel for a long time" Mr. H explained

 

Neku then nodded in understanding

 

"Okay, I'll give it a shot!" Neku roared

 

he closes his eyes and then focused on his Angel wings and made them dissolve, but still be around him as microscopic bits of his Angel energy. making his true power form be unleashed. Mr. H then taught Neku how to become bolts of lightning, fire, and massive explosions and how to fire comets of Angel energy in that state.

 

Seeing how all of that exhausted him, Neku then powered down. They then practiced over and over how to stay in his true power state longer until Neku finally was able to use that for a decent amount of time too. After all of that, the two Angels then teleport to the ground and return to their nomral states

 

“ha ha, you passed kiddo. I’m proud of ya” Mr. H said patting Neku’s head

 

“Thanks Mr. Hanekoma” Neku said smiling

 

“Huh? For what?” the angel said curiously

 

“For everything you’ve ever done” Neku replied

 

Mr. H then scratched his neck feeling a little flattered

 

“heh don’t mention it Phones…by the way, there’s something I wanna give you. Think of it as a little graduation present for learning nearly all of my skills”

 

“Nearly all of them? How come you didn’t show me all of ‘em?” Neku said returning to his Soul form

 

“Ha, ha, well that's because, despite all the new powers you and your friends have gotten, you're still pretty new here. I mean you haven’t even been dead for a year Phones, I can’t overload ya. Heh heh. You wouldn't be considered a newborn spirit or Fledgling until you've been dead for at least four years” Mr. H said smiling

 

“Oh, good point so…what’s my little gift for passing your training CAT?” Neku said with right hand in his pocket while extending out his left hand

 

Mr. H then closed his eyes and opened them summoning the gift in his right hand and placed it on Neku’s hand

 

“Huh? A pin? …it’s texture…it looks like it’s covered in feathers Mr. H” Neku said gazing at the detail on it

 

“and…it feels so…warm” Neku said noticing a light gray aura around it

 

Mr. H then smiled happy to see how Neku was so enthralled by the pin.

 

“heh heh, just like your soul Neku, this pin has a bit of my Angel energy inside it. It’s sorta like an amp for your Angel energy. Not only will it help you stay in your Angel form longer but, I…well I also wanted to protect you Phones, no matter what. So this pin’s also designed to protect you and help you if you ever feel overwhelmed with energy.”

 

“Mr. H” Neku said weakly “thanks…you…you’re always looking out for me. You’ve always just been…there.”

 

Neku then hanged his head feeling a little sad

 

“I…I wish I could be there for you too” he said feeling sad that he could never support him

 

Mr. H looked at Neku with his hands in his pockets

 

“You ARE always there for me” Mr. H said sincerely

 

“huh?” Neku said raising his head at his guardian friend

 

“You’re just…such a cool kid you know? I couldn’t help but want to reach out to you in the UG. I was just doing my job, to watch over Players in the Reapers’ Game and make sure it stays fair for the Players but…I couldn’t help but want to support you. Even if I did play a roll in Joshua’s plan, which was to help stabilize your mind and Soul, I really did that just to help you.” he said smiling

 

“ever since I met you, it helped me get a better idea of what I could do as CAT, how I could help others be happy. And how my message affected you more and more in the UG it really helped me just…have more confidence in my art, in myself and what I can do as an Angel. I’m really glad I met you.” Mr. H said chuckling

 

Neku then smiled at Mr. H

 

“Thanks…I’m glad I met you too” Neku said sincerely

 

He then placed the pin in his left pocket

 

“Now we can focus on improving other aspects Neku” Joshua said walking up to them

 

“Aspects? Like what?” Neku asked

 

“Before you even attempt to achieve God Status, there’s a few other things I want to teach you, something that’ll help you in the long run” Joshua said with his hands in his pockets

 

“Well what is it Josh?” Neku asked again feeling a little nervous

 

“How to fight…and to face your fear of Demons” Joshua said darkly

 

“You’ve gotten better Phones, unlike before, when you first faced Cedric and Clarissa, you were helpless and completely at their mercy. And even though Demons still scare you, you’re now at least able to fight back, which is a step in the right direction. But now, we want to help you no longer be afraid of them. So you’ll feel confident when facing Anthony” Mr. H said seriously

 

Just hearing that name then made Neku get chills down his spine.

 

As Anthony watched Neku become nervous he couldn’t help but smile

 

“You have a good sense of judgment to fear me. Especially since, even if you have confidence in yourself at the end of your training. I can easily kill you, and on top of that…you haven’t even seen what I can REALLY do” Anthony told Neku telepathically

 

 

To be continued…


	12. Origin of Death

Mr. H and Joshua noticed how Neku hid his face from them and became extremely pale as he was caught up in his concerns of what Anthony had told him.

 

He began to doubt himself thinking that no matter what happens that Anthony really could win, that Neku could Fade away at any time. He tried to focus on Enjoying the Moment, and just focusing on his training, but the fact that Anthony hasn’t shown what he could really do, that he wasn’t even trying this whole time terrified Neku.

 

“They’re stronger than any Reaper I’ve ever faced…even Shades, and he was strong enough to fuse with Joshua! Who’s a God of DEATH! And even he struggled against the Soul Stealers, and they’re just as strong as Anthony so…What the hell am I gonna…no…Shiki, Beat, Rhyme, Takato, Joshua…everyone…they’ve all supported me” Neku thought

 

Then the sentence that terrified him the most rang in his head again

 

_“I can easily kill you, and on top of that…you haven’t seen what I can REALLY do”_

 

Neku then squeezed the Angel pin Mr. H gave him hoping it would help him feel better, sensing his distress Mr. H then walked up to Neku.

 

“Hey Phones, you okay? You look really pale” Mr. H said concerned

 

Hearing the voice of Mr. H, just knowing that he was there sort of snapped Neku out of that sense of despair as his thoughts raced into his head, making him focus on his Guardian friend

 

“I’ll be okay” Neku said weakly

 

Mr. H knowing better than that spoke to Neku telepathically, to purposely block those thoughts that were hurting Neku.

 

“it’s gonna be okay Phones, remember what this training is for. We’re gonna help you get strong enough to the point he could never hurt you ever again. And thanks to that pin, now you’ll always have a little piece of me there to help protect you kiddo, I’ll help you get through this” Mr. H said blocking out Neku’s thoughts

 

Neku then felt the chills that were going down his spine stop, and color returned to his face. He then looked up at Mr. H

 

“Enjoy the moment with all your might whether it’s gloomy, whether it’s bright” Mr. H said smiling at him

 

Hearing Mr. H say that couldn’t help but make Neku chuckle since he quoted the letter he wrote for Neku in the UG word for word

 

“Even when playing a roll in Joshua’s plan, he was still there for me” Neku thought happily

 

“heh heh, yeah…after all Enjoying the Moment’s the motto I live by” Neku said smiling

 

“and it’s a pretty darn good one too” Joshua added smiling a little

 

“so you sure you’re okay now?” the composer asked

 

“much better…so what’s next?” Neku said curious

 

“Well as I mentioned earlier I wanted to teach you how to fight, specifically hand to hand combat. I know you’ve gotten into fights before BUT you don’t have experience in fighting, not like how Mr. H and I do.” Joshua explained

 

Neku then scratched his head feeling a little awkward

 

“Well to be fair I don’t think  _anyone_  could have as much experience as you and Mr. H, Josh.” Neku said sheepishly

 

“Alright, fair enough. Before that though, do you mind if I teach you something else?” Joshua asked

 

“no I don’t mind, the stronger I get, the better chance I’ll have at…well…you know…so what is it Joshua?” Neku said with his left hand faced upward and right hand in his pocket

 

“I want you to know a little something about us Death Gods Neku, something that’ll be very useful since this information is what leads to the origin of one of my most powerful attacks…My Death God strike. Where just touching you with my energy nearly killed you” Joshua said darkly

 

Neku then looked at Joshua in shock remembering how that one attack nearly killed him and because of that gave Joshua his undivided attention

 

“I’m pretty sure you’ve wondered it right? How is it that the Higher Ups are rather menacing despite being Angels right? Well that’s because they’re all connected to someone. I’m sure you’ve heard of him. After all, you Humans have made him become a symbol of death itself” Joshua explained

 

Neku was then filled with shock knowing exactly what he meant

 

“The…the Grim Reaper? DEATH?! He’s…real?” Neku said nervously

 

“More like  _was_  real, now as to how they’re connected to him…that’s because he’s a special Angel Neku…the original Angel of Death” Joshua said darkly

 

Just trying to process such a thing made Neku get chills go down his spine

 

“As the first Death Angel, he existed for many millennia bringing humans to the afterlife. Back then, there were no rules about Spirits interacting with the living, and as time passed, this is how humans got their knowledge about the supernatural and afterlife in general, by actually interacting with ghosts. Eventually, as time passed though, people thought they were just myths, legends and superstition.” Joshua continued

 

“Back then, although the Higher Plane has existed since the beginning of time, back then it was all just a blank space with pillars of glass, like the way the Fledgling district was when you first came here” he added

 

“So…then why did he look so…well…menacing? You know, running around in a black cloak and being a skeleton?” Neku asked still astonished

 

“Well, that’s not how he looked at first. He really was just like any other Angel and decided that wasn't scary enough. What you just described was how he chose to look when he had to power down to enter the RG. He then grew to prefer that look and decided to make one like it for the Higher Plane. He altered his form and made it a black mist with a white skull and the skeletal form of hands, and can make his wings be black too, to match the mist.” Joshua said with his hands in his pockets

 

“He thought his job was rather gruesome which is why he called himself the Grim Reaper, well that and…since whoever would face him would have their Soul torn or cut out their bodies with his scythe. That…

 

Joshua then made his left arm become his Death God energy and then created the Energy scythe making it extend out of his arm as returned to normal, and held it in his hands

 

“is where  _this_  is from. As an homage to the first Death Angel, by recreating his tool. My Death God Strike, recreates how deeply his scythe would tear through people to rip out their souls” Joshua said darkly watching Neku’s eyes filled with shock

 

he then closed his eyes, sighed and crossed his arms regaining his composure

 

“But…how do the Higher Ups all tie into this? And do the Reapers have a connection too?” Neku said curiously

 

Joshua then chuckled and then continued

 

“That's because as time passed Neku, he felt his energy beginning to burn out, just like how a star can die over time. As you know, traveling to alternate dimensions takes a lot of energy. Back in his time, it took a lot of energy for the Grim Reaper to go from the Higher Plane to the RG and back” Joshua explained to Neku

 

“Eventually doing so took a toll on him. So with his last bit of strength, he split up his power into the five beings you know as the Higher Ups. They then created more layers to the Higher Plane so spirits could get to the afterlife on their own and have separate districts for spirits to rest…the districts we have now” Joshua said nonchalantly

 

“So…then the Head Maestro…all of ‘em…they’re all descendants of Death himself? But then…how come they have a HEAD, Maestro? Didn’t they all get the same amount of power?” Neku asked

 

“Technically the answer is yes and no. Despite how they were created at the same times, the Head Maestro is the one who was formed first. Similar to how with twins, one is born a few minutes before the other. It's because of this, many believe that he is the closest to the first Death Angel in terms of personality” Joshua answered

 

Neku then flashed back to when he was on trial and Aiden got close to his face and squeezed Neku’s hair and remembered what he told him:

 

_“Interrupt me again and I’ll skip the Game entirely and kill you”_

 

“Y-Yeah…I guess that’d make sense” Neku said weakly from seeing the connection

 

Joshua then explained how Reapers are connected

 

“Now as for the Reapers and how they're tied to all of this, that’s because just like the Grim Reaper, Reapers are bringers of death. Their job is to kill Players, just like how Death’s was to kill humans. Reaping means to cut or gather something. Usually, humans do that to gather crops, Death did that to gather Souls.” Joshua said seriously

 

Neku then hid his face from Joshua just trying to process everything and stood in silence for a brief moment

 

“Reapers sort of recreate Death’s job…by killing Players?” Neku said weakly

 

“Exactly” Joshua replied causing Neku to look up

 

Mr. H then reassured Neku that everything was okay, due to how he sensed how nervous Neku was from learning that the Head Maestro is the closest to Death, and that Reapers in a way carry on his work. Once Neku felt better Joshua then taught him how to create the Energy Scythe in his Death God form and then moved on to hand to hand combat

 

“But before we begin, is there a particular reason that made you want to throw me off of the island?” Joshua said crossing his arms

 

“And why should I answer that?” Neku said shrugging

 

Joshua then became annoyed

 

“um how about…Because I’m asking?!” Joshua snarled

 

“Well” Neku said slyly “One could say that I did that out of spite, however, that clearly may not be the case. After all, since you were the one that pushed me off of the mountain first, it could be a possibility that I did that as payback. But then again, one may truly never know of one’s intentions now will we Joshua? Hee hee” Neku said pulling his hair back wearing a smug smile

 

Joshua then was thrown into a state of shock

 

Neku then went out of that little pose and simply crossed his arms and hid his mouth from Joshua, glaring at him in anger. Mr. H then just bursted out laughing at how accurately Neku mimicked Joshua

 

“Man he’s got you pegged Joshua” Mr. H said laughing

 

“Um what was that for?” Joshua said stunned

 

“For all the times you drove me crazy in the UG” Neku replied harshly

 

Joshua then sighed

 

“Neku that was because you were around my Composer energy, it affected you mentally and physically, making you get angry when you’re around me.” Joshua explained

 

“well that and you’re a little snot” Neku said with a smug smile on his hand on his waist

 

“Alright you two come on, we need to get started” Mr. H said trying to get their focus

 

Joshua then became serious again causing Neku to do that too

 

“Good point Mr. H” Joshua said with a serious look on his face

 

He then walked away from Neku causing Mr. H to back up giving Joshua some space

 

“Now I’m going to teach you how to fight Neku” The composer said with his hands in his pockets

 

“huh? But Joshua I’ve fought Noise, Demons, Angels, and Reapers before so…wouldn’t that prove that I know how to fight?” Neku said with his right hand in his pocket and left hand facing upward

 

“well yes and no, see a lot of those fights were won either by something aiding you, like your pins, Partners and imagination. Or in the case of fighting Angels or Demons, a lot of those fights were won thanks to you getting a rush of energy in your soul Neku. That when you’re in danger, your energy spikes up empowering you…in other words, it’s like the afterlife equivalent to an Adrenaline rush” Joshua replied

 

Neku then hid his face from Joshua realizing that was true

 

“he’s right…all this time I’ve either had someone save me…or I get so determined for my life not to end that…I just do whatever I can to survive. An adrenaline rush” Neku thought sadly

 

He then raised his head seeing Joshua smiling a little bit

 

“that’s what this is for Neku, to help you feel more in control, like when you fought in my Game” Joshua said reassuring Neku

 

Neku then nodded his head understanding what Joshua meant

 

“Before we start Josh…just let me do this for a sec” Neku said hiding his mouth

 

Neku then placed his hands on his head and did his usual focusing position and teleported the picture Rhyme made for him to his room with the white picture frame wrapped around it again, and thought about it hanging on a wall in his room, making it do just that.

 

He then thought about Kyoku again and had the katana she gave him teleported back to his room. After doing that he then opened his eyes

 

“What was that about?” Joshua asked

 

“I just took the picture Rhyme made me back to my room, and did the same thing with Kyoku’s sword…I didn’t just want to leave it behind you know? But with how so much stuff happened in the Angel’s Game I never had a chance to go back for it when I dropped it” Neku replied

 

“I’m ready now” he added

 

“Alright first I want you to try to hit me Neku” Joshua exclaimed

 

“Huh? Just…walk up to you and…hit you?” Neku said startled

 

“yes, now go on” Joshua insisted

 

Feeling a little hesitant Neku then got into his fighting stance and attempted to punch Joshua. Although he drives him crazy, Neku sees Joshua as his friend so he felt awkward trying to hit him. Noticing this Joshua dodges all of Neku’s punches, punched Neku in the stomach, wrapped his arms around Neku’s and flipped him upside down making him land on his back.

 

In other words a professional wrestling move known as the Butterfly Suplex

 

“Nnngh! J-Joshua?! What the hell was that for?!” Neku roared as he got to his feet

 

“that’s the move I want to teach you” Joshua explained

 

“Rrrgh! Well did you have to punch me so hard in the stomach?” Neku said weakly clenching his stomach

 

“of course I did. Part of the move is having the opponent lean forward like you did so I can flip you. Hee hee” Joshua said while pulling back his hair

 

“Now I want you to defend yourself Neku, fight back” Joshua said crossing his arms

 

“W-What?! Joshua, even in your human form you’re stronger than me! You’re a Composer, a Death God!” Neku shouted in his shocked position

 

“Did that ever stop you from taking down Megumi, a Reaper right behing a God of Death's power? You’ve fought people stronger than you before Neku. Even if I’m stronger than all of those Reapers, still…that proves that you can do this” Joshua said seriously

 

Neku then turned away from Joshua while clasping his shoulder

 

“You’re saying that I have what it takes to…beat up a god? …Josh…you’ve said it yourself, human souls are the weakest forms of energy right? So that would be like expecting a mouse…to kill a lion. Plus, Shades said it himself, without a partner, Players have little to no power in the UG. All of the things I did are because of my partners, on my own, I would've been screwed." Neku said a little sad

 

"I know that being your Proxy was so that I could fight in your place, and that you chose me because of my imagination, but…on my own, I’m just a human soul. Everyone has their limits…I can only do so much so…I…

 

Joshua then interrupted Neku sensing how he was feeling doubtful of himself and needed Neku to feel in control again, like he did in the Reaper’s Game.

 

"Don't tell me you've forgotten Neku, think about when you fought Megumi's Dragon Noise form, or when you fought the Noise forms of the other Game Masters like when you Erased Yodai, the first Game Master you ever faced. That had to have been a rather startling experience right? and yet you still pulled through Neku. Even if you had partners, you pulled your own weight and fought them too" he added

 

"Yeah...the first Game Master, he was the one that would pick on Shiki, I remember how seeing his Noise form was so crazy to see for the first time and...yeah the dragon Noise...that was pretty intense. I mean he was huge you know? stronger than any other Noise form I had fought up to that point, and he constantly fired energy at me! I had nowhere to run to take cover! I had to kill a Noise powered up by you" Neku said weakly

 

Sensing how Neku still felt unsure like he didn't have that control he did in the Reapers' Game Joshua desided to push Neku a little bit

 

“Hmmm, well then I suppose you need some motivation eh Neku?” Joshua said looking at him curiously with his hand on his chin

 

Neku then turned around to look at Joshua

 

“Joshua? What’re you talking about?” Neku said with his arms crossed

 

“I suppose she will suffice” Joshua said ignoring his question

 

He then snapped his fingers teleporting one of Neku’s friends to the Composer district making Neku gasp out of fear not knowing what Joshua would do to her

 

“Neku? What’s going on?” Eri asked confused

 

Joshua then lets out his sinister laugh and charges up Composer energy in his right hand.

 

“Joshua! What’re you doing?!” Neku screamed

 

Joshua then pointed the energy at Eri

 

“since you’re struggling to fight back I figured this would be the next best thing” Joshua said nonchalantly

 

“Rrrgh! Don’t screw with me Joshua!” Neku roared shaking his fist

 

Joshua then made the energy surge like lightning

 

“I’m not” he said darkly

 

Mr. H then looked at Joshua concerned

 

“Don’t worry Mr. H this is to push Neku to get the result we want that’s all” Joshua said telepathically

 

“Neku?” Eri said weakly

 

Neku couldn’t help but flashback to his time with Shiki in the UG since she looked just like Eri back then and how Shiki confessed how she wanted to be her

 

“Shiki” Neku mumbled hiding his face “You finally have your friend back, the person you swore you’d go back to in the UG…

 

Neku then charged up energy in his right hand making it surge like lightning startling Eri, and then looked up at Joshua

 

“And I’m not letting you take that from her!” he screamed enraged

 

“really? Then stop me Neku, stop me from laying a finger on her” Joshua said darkly

 

Neku then squinted as he felt his eyes burn and his hands balled up into fists, seeing how this situation is similar to when Joshua wanted to duel him…to ultimately shoot him, to be in a life or death struggle knowing that either one of them could die.

 

“Why?” Neku muttered

 

“I’m sorry what was that?” Joshua said slyly

 

He then opened his eyes and snarled at Joshua

 

“WHAT THE HEEEEELL?!”

 

In the blink of an eye, Neku flew at Joshua at such incredible speeds he was in front of him in a matter of seconds and roared as he slammed his right fist with energy into Joshua’s face sending him flying back making the energy dissolve. Being agile in his human form, Joshua recovered from the attack by using a back flip to land on his feet as he slid on the ground.

 

He was about to congratulate Neku for fighting back but noticed he felt something warm, like heat was bursting out of his cheek.

 

"My toned down energy?" Joshua thought

 

He then noticed that light blue energy was also leaking out of the side of his face

 

“white energy outlined in Light blue? That’s the same energy I saw Joshua release when I somehow summoned his, Shiki and Beat's energies during our combined Fusion attack…how did I…wait a minute, why is that energy there? What exactly is that?” Neku thought worried

 

Joshua then closed his eyes and made his wound go away and then got up

 

“Good work Neku, see what your energy did? It empowered you allowing you to hit me with so much force that you made my Composer energy at its weaker frequency leak out of my human form” Joshua said smiling

 

“Composer energy at a weaker frequency?” Neku said confused

 

“When the Soul reaches the other rankings of power for your mind, your soul changes, making it go through a sort of evolution. That's what my soul is now, the Composer, a Death God. when it's a light blue color, it's my soul at a weaker frequency, even then, it still effected you emotionally." Joshua explained

 

The Composer couldn't help but then chuckle

  
"After all, if you made a pact with my Composer energy at my highest frequency, it would’ve driven you insane, and if you did that three-way pact with my full vibe frequency Composer energy, it would’ve made such an imbalance in your Soul that it would’ve killed you. All those times you felt unsure of yourself and felt like giving up in the second week was because of my higher vibe frequency, and that's with my frequency toned down int the UG. Can you imagine what would happen if you had felt my presence at my highest frequency?" Joshua asked

 

"No way...if that's really true... then there's no way I could handle your energy at full vibe frequncy" Neku said quietly

 

 

Joshua then continued

 

"In fact, the only way to become a Composer in the UG is by killing the current one and absorbing his or her energy allowing it to merge with your Soul.” Joshua replied making the Proxy look at him in shock

 

"So if I had killed him in our dual, if I had shot Joshua then...I would've absorbed his energy?! and...Beat, that's what he wanted, to be the Composer so then...that would've happened to him too?" Neku thought in shock

 

 As Neku began to process everything Joshua told him he looked at his Composer friend in shock, amazed by how Death was an Angel and what he learned about Reapers and Composer energy 

 

To be Continued...

 


	13. Facing Fear

As Neku was silent trying to process everything, Eri sort of snapped him out of it

 

“Wait a minute, just what exactly is going on around here?! First you go from defending Neku when those Soul Stealers ambushed him to now trying to kill me? Is that what was going on?” Eri said outraged

 

“Well no” Joshua said walking up to them “I wanted to motivate Neku to fight back, so I figured that his friends would be the perfect tool to motivate him that’s all”

 

“TOOLS?! You were USING ME?!” Eri shouted “How could you Joshua?! Why would you want to hurt Neku like that?! How could you mess with him and make it look like I was in danger?!”

 

Joshua then chuckled

 

“because…don’t you see how he responded? Neku’s been alone Eri, with no one to care about him other than his family and even then, he'd still feel alone. He was hurt by the world, and betrayed by the people he trusted, people that he cared about…and yet, my little Game  helped heal Neku’s mind and Soul from his past. It helped heal him from all the painful memories that destabilized his mind, making him push everyone away with music.” he answered

 

Neku then hid his face in his funnel collar from still knowing how painful those memories were, and how he went back to them when he became Damien.

 

“His friends impacted him, and inspired him to expand his world, without them, Neku would still have his headphones pushing the world away not wanting to let anyone in, determined to never get hurt again. His new friends mean a lot to him, including you. After all, you are the one person that helped Neku understand Shiki’s sadness.” Joshua said smiling a little

 

“Me?” Eri said confused

 

“Mhm, it’s because of her sadness that I could sense that Neku was forging a connection to Shiki, understanding how she was hurt from the world too, to the point she wanted to change herself. If you think about it Eri, if it wasn’t for you, Neku probably would’ve never connected to Shiki like he did. On top of that if you think about it, they also had similar entry fees." he explained

 

 

"They had similar entry fees?" Eri added stunned

 

 

"Yes, they really did if you compare the two. Neku lost who he was mentally and Shiki lost who she was physically. even though they were hurt in different ways, their sadness helped them connect and become friends. Odds are, without Neku, Shiki would've never let go of her envy of you” Joshua said with his hands in his back pockets

 

Eri then hanged her head a little bit trying to process everything and then looked back up and walked up to Neku

 

“Is all of that really true Neku?” she asked

 

“Yeah” he said weakly “That’s why I got so mad I just, didn’t want to lose anyone…not again. I’ve got friends now…it’s all so new to me…so now that I finally have that, I don’t want to lose that...ever”

 

Eri then smiled

 

“You won’t Neku. I've gotten to see how strong your…Pacts have affected your Soul since you partnered up with Shiki, Beat, and Joshua. How you guys would fight side by side when fighting the Noise, or how they can even sense when you’re in pain even in the Higher Plane. The stuff Shiki told me about the UG is so…crazy that it’s almost unbelievable! if anyone else would‘ve told me that, I would‘ve thought they were crazy. But…I’m glad you were able to let go of all of that sadness Neku. I just want to be your friend too” she said sweetly

 

Neku then raised his head and smiled at her

 

“You already are my friend” Neku said weakly

 

“You really mean that?” Eri said shocked

 

“Yeah, I trust you Eri” Neku said smiling

 

Eri then giggled causing Neku to chuckle

 

Joshua then intervened

 

“Um as nice as this little moment is we need to continue Neku” Joshua said persistently

 

Neku then sighed

 

“Yeah…you’re right but…no more randomly teleporting my other friends here as part of my training alright?” Neku said crossing his arms

 

“alright fine” Joshua said agreeing

 

“I’ll see you in a bit Eri, when I finally achieve God Status.” Neku said smiling

 

“You sure you’ll be okay?” Eri asked concerned about Joshua doing something to him

 

“Yeah don’t worry about me, you gotta go back and keep Shiki company. I’ll be fine Eri, and I’ll come back to you guys when this is through, that’s a promise” he said with his hand on his hip wearing a smug smile

 

“alright, see you soon” Eri said smiling

 

She then hugged Neku making him a little startled

 

She then lets go of him and he smiles at her. Joshua then snapped his fingers and teleported her back to his other friends

 

“Now that you’re all fired up, want to try this again?” Joshua asked

 

“you know it” Neku replied in his fighting stance

 

 

Joshua then said he thought of someone to help Neku learn how to fight and teleported the person there.

 

 

"What the hell Joshua?! You just said you wouldn't teleport my friends here!" Neku yelled frusterated

 

"BWAAAAHAA! What da hell's goin' on yo?! Hey Prissy Boy! Eri told me whatchy did man! That ain't somethin' you should do as part of Phones's training man! I oughta pound you!" Beat yelled

 

Joshua chuckled

 

 

 

 

"That strong attitude of yours is exactly why I brought you here Beat. I may have taught Neku how to fight, but I feel like he could learn from you too" he said wisely

 

Beat then looked at Joshua confused

 

 

"Is dat...is dat a complomant yo? You sayin' I'm da right guy for the job?" a startled Beat asked

 

Joshua then chuckled agian

 

"Well, I suppose you could say that. Now I'm gonna go for a bit to let you two have some privacy. Hee hee" the Composer said with his hands in his back pockets

 

 

he then waved his hand 

 

 

"have fun Neku" and then became a ball of light and flew away 

 

 

Beat then chuckled and popped his knuckles

 

 

"Aight yo. Prissy boy said that he taught ya how to fight. But I ain't buyin' it. I wanna see whatchu got man" Beat said with a smirk

 

 

Neku then chuckled back and got in his fighting stance

 

 

"Bring it!" he yelled fired up

 

 

Neku then tried to throw a punch at Beat only for Beat to stand there and take the hit.

 

  
"Come on man! I know you got it in you! HIT ME!" Beat roared

 

 

Neku then punched him again two times, and still Beat hardly felt anything

 

 

"Hey what's widchu Neku? I know you don't like the idea of hurtin' your friends, I get it man. But come ON! If this was a real fight, you'd be in trouble! You can't pull your punches." the strong friend said worried

 

 

Neku then held his right shoulder and hid his mouth in his collar.

 

 

"Sorry...I...I guess I just didn't want to hurt you. You're my brother" he said weakly

 

 

he then turned towards Beat and saw him push Neku

 

 

"COME ON!" 

 

he then pushes Neku again

 

 

"DO IT!"

 

 

He then pushed Neku one last time seeing Neku growl at Beat

 

 

"BACK OFF!" Neku screamed punching Beat in the face knocking him back

 

Neku then looks in shock and sees Beat get back up again.

 

 

"Dat's what's up. I knew you had it in you Phones!" Beat said happily

 

they then practiced jabs.

 

"Remember yo, you can't just throw your fists at someone throwin' your arms around! Punches come from ya core!" Beat said sternly

 

"My core?" Neku asked

 

 

"yeah man! You gotta twist your body into ya punch yo! How you think I'm able to punch so hard yo?! You gotta put ya whole body's weight into ya punch Phones!" Beat said smiling

 

Neku then chuckled

 

 

"Got it" 

 

The two boys practice hand to hand combat for what felt like many hours. Beat started him off easy with learning how to dodge an attack, something he knows Neku already knows how to do from the Reapers' Game, but struggles to do that when facing Demons. He then taught Neku high and low kicks and high and low punches.

 

Eventually they moved on to combo strings, and then Joshua returned thanking Beat for his help and teleported Beat back to the others. Joshua then showed Neku the Butterfuly Suplex and Joshua taught Neku how to take advantage of when someone is taller than him. Mr. H intervened at this point since he’s taller than both of the boys.

 

Neku felt hesitant at first but he reassured Neku that he went through similar training when he became a Guardian, and that this was to help Neku develop a fighting style all his own. He also added that it was important to learn this so that he can take advantage of how they’re easier to knock down this way due to their higher sense of gravity.

 

The Guardian and Proxy fought with Neku swinging his leg beneath Mr. H making him fall on his back. Mr. H then got up and they fought some more.

 

Even though gravity technically doesn’t exist and spirits can fly for as long as they want without them getting pulled back down by gravity.

 

As Neku improved, he learned how to implement his energy attacks into his combos and even dissolve into a dark blue fog to fly around the enemy and attack them from behind.

 

He tried that on Mr. H but he snapped his fingers returning Neku to his spirit form and grabbed Neku’s left leg and swung him down to the ground.

 

“that’s it Phones! You’ve got this!” Mr. H said proudly

 

Neku then tried to punch and kick his mentor only to have Mr. H block every single blow. Joshua then stepped in and tried to spin kick Neku in the face.

 

He then used his Composer powers to slow down Joshua and then grab his right leg and slam him onto the ground. Joshua then retaliated by teleporting into the air and fired energy at Neku.

 

He then became his armored form and dove into the energy surprised that it didn’t hurt as bad as getting shot with energy usually does (but that was only due to Joshua being in his human form) and teleported behind his Composer friend and became his spirit form again and fired energy at Joshua in the back landing on the ground behind him.

 

“Nnngh! So, what’s next?” Neku said panting, finally feeling confident in himself again

 

Joshua (who landed face first on the floor) then got up and looked at his Proxy. They both saw how they were covered in bruises and scratches

 

“Man you…you got me really good” Neku said squeezing his right arm while looking through his left eye

 

“Heh…so did you” Joshua said pleased

 

He then snapped his fingers and healed himself (Mr. H being the expert fighter that he is didn’t need to heal since he was able to retaliate all of Neku’s attacks and not get hurt)

 

The same could’ve been said for Joshua if really tried to hurt Neku, and not merely spar with him

 

Neku then placed his hands on his head to concentrate as he was about to heal himself when Anthony began to unleash his true presence on Neku (though just a small portion)

 

“Nnngh!” Neku grunted squeezing his hair

 

“Wha…why…do…I--

 

Before he could even finish whispering that sentence to his friends he felt himself fall forwards

 

“Phones!” Mr. H yelled as he ran to him

 

He then teleported to Neku and caught him and could sense how Neku felt hot, as if someone had shot energy at him and had burned him as Neku panted out breath squeezing his right arm. Joshua then caught up to Mr. H

 

“You don’t think that the energy’s gonna kill him from the inside do you?” Joshua asked

 

“Although Anthony could do that, I don’t think he’d do that to him…at least…not without Shiki being there” Mr. H said darkly

 

"Nnngh! Mr. H it really hurts! I'm trying to make it stop, but I feel so tired" Neku said weakly

 

Anthony then snapped his fingers and forced the demon energy to start to spike up in power, making the Demon Energy core begin to surge like lightning as it began to consume Neku

 

Anthony then smiled as the demon energy began to tear Neku’s body making darkblue energy leak through his skin

 

“Mr. H it’s getting out of control” Joshua said sternly

 

“I’m on it” Mr. H replied

 

Mr. H then began to neutralize the demon energy causing his demon skin and slashes to go away. When they were finally gone he then focused on healing Neku’s body, making his energy no longer leak out of him. When he finally woke up he hears Anthony reach him telepathically

 

“that was just proof that I could kill you right now Neku. You’re not safe…no matter where you go I’m always watching you…and I can easily control you, little Fledgling”

 

“Nnngh…An…thony” he whispered

 

Mr. H then focused his healing energy to let it flow into Neku again making his body get a white aura making Mr. H smile

 

“heh heh, it seems the pin I gave Phones is reacting, it’s trying to neutralize the demon energy too” Mr. H said glad that his pin worked

 

“Hang in there Phones” he thought

 

With Mr. H and now the Angel protection pin working together Neku felt awake much faster and felt his eyes widen from alertness.

 

He then sat up and his immortal friends gave him some space

 

“You okay?” Mr. H asked

 

“Yeah…thanks, what happened to me Mr. H? I just felt some pain in my head again and the next thing I knew I felt really weak, like my body was aching. Then…that’s all I can remember” Neku said weakly

 

“It must’ve been Anthony again…I’m sorry that this keeps happening Phones” Mr. H said sadly

 

Neku then got to his feet with Mr. H immediately placing his left hand on Neku’s back in an attempt to support him just incase Neku felt tired

 

“thanks” Neku said he stood up

 

“Don’t mention it” Mr. H said smiling taking his hand off of Neku’s back

 

“You sure you’re okay Neku?” Joshua asked

 

“Yeah, I’m…just tired of all of this, I’m tired of putting everyone at risk. I don’t want to feel so…powerless, so…breakable and weak…like something for them to play with” Neku said hiding his face

 

He then raised his face still hiding his mouth though and got in his fighting stance

 

“But I won‘t falter anymore! I‘m gonna do this!” he roared

 

“heh, that’s more like it. That’s the Neku I met in the UG” Joshua said smiling with his hands in his back pockets

 

 

Mr. H smiled too but he knew Neku needed to finally admit to himself his fear

 

"While I'm glad you're getting more confident in yourself Phones, there's something you need to face. I want you to imagine the Demons you've faced before, how violent they were, and what they did to you. If you do this correctly, then you'll finally know what I've been trying to tell you" he said sternly

 

"huh? But Mr. H, it's like I said to that illusion of me as a Demon Lord remember? I'm not...scared of them, it's just the outcome I worry about" Neku said crossing his arms

 

"I know, but you need to then face that outcome" the Angel added

 

 

"right" Neku said nodding in understanding

 

he then closed his eyes and did his usual concentration pose and imagined all the demons that have attacked him. Clarissa, Anthony, The Soul Stealers, but not Cedric since he knew he could kill him now

 

Neku opened his eyes and got out of his focusing pose and looked at the illusions

 

“Well this is interesting, why is it that you would want to recreate me Neku? Did you really miss me that much?” Clarissa said teasingly

 

Neku then got into his fighting stance

 

“Shut up! I’m not your toy! You’re not gonna mess with me anymore!” he roared

 

She then teleported inches from Neku’s face and slid her left hand into his hair, and began to play with Neku’s ear again and whispered making her breath go down his neck

 

“Somehow…I really doubt that” she said confidently as she whispered

 

“Stop! Back off” he whimpered

 

“Why Neku? You don’t like it when I play with you?” she said softly

 

“Shut up” he muttered

 

Neku then focused on his Angel form

 

Clarissa then pulled down his funnel collar again and was about to kiss his neck when Neku opened his eyes and became his Angel form.

 

“I told you to back off” Neku said darkly

 

He then flew at the illusion causing Clarissa to become black smoke and try to escape. He then shot Angel energy at her causing her to revert back to her human form screaming in pain. Neku then wrapped himself in the Angel energy and became an orb the size of a boulder as Clarissa flew towards the ground he teleported to her and blasted the energy in front of her.

 

But doing such an attack, packing so much energy into one shot made him weak and become his human soul again causing Neku to pant out of breath while squeezing his right arm

 

“Nnngh! That…that really took a lot out of me” he muttered

 

Clarissa then walked towards Neku and teleported in front of him and hugged him

 

“You’re weak” she whispered “and I could easily kill you now”

 

 

At that moment Anthony then appeared and so did his Soul Stealers and all began slashing him making Neku scream in pain. Trembling in pain, he then manages to get up and fire Angel Energy at all the demons making them blast away.

 

A Soul Stealer then teleported to Neku and slashed Neku's face making him slam onto the floor. Feeling overwhelmed, Neku then got up and ran away from the Demons.The Soul Stealers then caught up to Neku and began slashing him in the air and Anthony blasted Demon energy to Neku's chest making him slam onto his back.

 

Clarissa then walked to Neku and wrapped her arms around him  making Neku cringe as he tried to focus on his Angel energy

 

"ENOUGH!" he screamed 

 

he opened his eyes making them glow light gray and blast an explosion of white energy blasting all the demons away, making the illusions disappear making Neku fall to his hands and knees

 

"Why?! Even with all this training, EVEN AFTER ALL THIS TIME! I still have a hard time with them!" Neku roared

 

Mr. H then walked up to him and sat down to Neku's left.

 

"You know why, don't you?" Mr. H said sadly

 

Neku couldn't help but feel his eyes begin to burn as tears built up

 

"You were right! You were right this whole time! I...I understand now. This is what my friends felt when they had to fight me as the Demon Lord right?" Neku said sadly

 

he then gets back up, causing Mr. H to do the same and he sees Neku hide his face in his collar and hands in his pockets

 

"I'm...I'm scared. I've...been scared of them this whole time" he admitted

 

"it's okay Phones. Shiki, Beat and Rhyme were all scared too, but the moment they accepted that, the true power of their Angel energy was unleashed, and that's how they and Joshua stopped you. If you use Angel energy while scared, that weakens it. Admitting you're scared is the first step in conquering your fear" Mr. H said with a smile

 

Neku then raised his head and looked in shock at Mr. H

 

"I know it seems hard to believe, but even Joshua and I were once afraid of them, especially during our early years in the Higher Plane. Everyone gets scared of something at some point Phones. Being scared doesn't mean you're weak." He said sincerely

 

 

"Think about when you were about to were about to face Shades, remember how you felt? You were so scared that Shiki said you were pale. But then you pushed yourself and fought him anyway. That guts is what it takes to face demons. You've had those guts all along. Every time a Demon would attack you, you'd fight back. You even fought back Clarissa! so I know you can do this Neku" Mr. H said  reassuringly

 

Neku then looked down for a bit and then back at Mr. H

 

"Yeah...you're right. There were times in the Reapers' Game where I would panic and not know what to do, but I still found a way out" Neku said firmly

 

"That right there, is what you've needed to accept this whole time Neku. Your friends were able to face you when you were the Demon Lord, so I know you can do the same and face Anthony. That reassurance is how you survived the Angels' Game twice too. I know you're better than this" Joshua with his hands in his pockets

 

Neku then couldn't help but chuckle finding it a little odd seeing Joshua compliment him

 

"Heh, never thought I'd hear that from you, but yeah...I know what I need to do now" Neku said with his smug smile and right hand on his waist

 

Neku then closed his eyes and placed his hands on his head and took a deep breath

 

"I've got this! I know I'm stronger than this. Focus on the Angel energy, not the Demon energy. I know I'm gonna kill them, all of the demons that have been dragging me down!" he thought determined

 

 He then imagined Clarissa the others again

 

Clarissa then walked towards Neku and teleported inches from his face and wrapped her arms around him. She then backed away a little bit to slide her left hand into Neku’s hair again only to feel Neku squeeze her arm making her whimper in pain

 

“Nnngh! W-What?! How are you able to hurt me?!” she said shocked

 

Neku then looked at her with enraged eyes filled with hate towards her

 

“I’m not scared of you anymore” he said darkly

 

He then electrocuted Claissa with his Angel energy making her go flying into the air, he leaped into the air and summoned his Angel wings and flew at Clarissa with so much speed that he broke the sound barrier and slashed Clarissa with a force of wind by teleporting all around her and punching her while simultaneously firing a blast of sound at her.

 

Neku became his Angel form again and recreated an attack Mr. H had used on Clarissa when he was defending Neku from her. He flew at her punching her in the face which recoiled her away from him. He then teleported to her grabbed her by the hair and threw her towards the ground.

 

Neku then teleported to the ground, spread out his wings and then fired orbs the size of bowling balls at her with such speed that it was like a machine gun shooting multiple bullets at someone.

 

“heh, he’s really doing it” Mr. H thought happily

 

Neku then let’s out an inhuman roar as he blasts Angel fire at the illusion of Clarissa making her dissolve into black orbs before dissolving into nothingness. He then powered up into his True Power state and unleashed comets of Angel-energy from the sky and slammed into the other demons, making them all dissolve.

 

Exhausted Neku then flapped his wings and hovered back down to the ground. When he finally felt his feet touch the ground he then felt his Angel form power down going to his Enlighten form before going back to a human soul

 

Mr. H and Joshua then flew to Neku as little orbs getting ready to then tell him how they think he did on facing his fear of demons. As Neku tried to recover his strength he only felt himself get weaker causing him to pant out of breath squeezing his right arm for support.

 

As the fatigue kicked in even more he felt dizzy and squeezed his knees panting out of breath as he desperately tried to stay conscious. Mr. H and Joshua then became their human forms and ran to Neku

 

“Phones! What‘s wrong?!” Mr. H asked concerned

 

Mr. H and Joshua then reached Neku and stood in front of him

 

“Nnngh!…N-Nothing’s…wrong I…I just feel--

 

Mr. H then became extremely concerned knowing that Neku’s Angel form takes this much out of him and saw Neku pant again not even able to finish his sentence. He then placed his hand on Neku’s back and began to heal Neku to help him feel better. A white aura then glowed around Neku and he slowly stopped panting and was able to stand up normally again.

 

“You sure you’re okay Neku?” Joshua said curiously

 

“heh heh, that was nothin’ I’m fine. I guess I just overdid it a little” Neku replied

 

Mr. H then looked to Joshua causing him to do the same and they smiled and then looked back at Neku

 

“More like overdid it a lot, you need to be careful Neku” Joshua exclaimed

 

“Yeah he’s got a point Phones. Keep in mind that your Angel form is you most powerful form now next to your demon form” Mr. H said sternly

 

“No…not anymore Mr. Hanekoma” Neku said smiling

 

Mr. H then looked at him confused

 

“It’s true that Demons rank higher than Angels in power but…with Clarissa’s demon energy gone, I know I'm not strong enough to fight him. The only time my full demon form, Damien, was closer to his power was when I was a Virtuoso Demon, when Clarissa was apart of me" Neku said smiling

 

"and now thanks to the deal I made with my demon energy's core now my Demon rank is Virtuoso again, but...I still, I don't know if I can handle it. Now that I finally have a better understanding of Angel energy and how to use it when fighting…I want to use that one more" he added while crossing his arms

 

Neku then placed his hand on his hip feeling smug

 

“Besides it’s like what you said to me CAT, focus on the Angel energy not the Demon energy”

 

Mr. H smiled glad that Neku felt more confident in Angel energy to the point he felt like he could rely on it

 

“I’m glad you feel that way but listen up Phones, you need to be careful. It’s like what I told your other friends when they became Angels, if you stay in this form too long it’ll eat away at you. You’re not a natural born Angel, or someone who's spent years in the RG's time adjusting to it, like me, so this energy can overload you” he said cautiously causing Neku to look at him seriously

 

Neku then nodded his head understanding the risk of using that energy

 

“He has a point Neku, it’s okay to use this form but don’t push yourself too hard, if you start to feel weak, stop and power down.” Joshua said sternly

 

“Plus a Demon Vs another Demon has a better chance at surviving than a Demon Vs an inexperienced Angel. Even though as an Angel you’re more powerful than me Phones, that power means nothing if you don’t know how to use it. You need experience. That’s how I’ve been able to take down Demons that were stronger than me, but that isn’t to say that you shouldn’t use your Angel or Composer form too” Mr. H said seriously

 

Neku then clasped his shoulder feeling a little unsure

 

“Yeah…thanks I’ll keep that in mind Mr. H” Neku said weakly

 

“Focus on the Angel energy, not the Demon energy” he thought

 

Neku then looked back at his powerful friends and smiled with his left hand on his waist

 

“So, who’s next?” he said with a smug smile

 

“Well no one Neku, it’s not like we can put you up against Anthony, and you’re already stronger than Cedric” Joshua said smiling a little

 

“So now, the final half of your training’s gonna begin. We’ll do a recap on what you’ve learned and then move on” Mr. H said smiling proudly at Neku

 

“But before we move on there’s something you need to know Neku, it’ll be useful information for you in the long run” Joshua said sternly looking at Neku seriously

 

Neku then became serious too and looked at Joshua with his hands in his pockets squeezing Mr. H’s pin

 

“Alright, what is it Josh?” Neku said a little nervous

 

“You need to know something about Mr. H and I, how our Human forms work so to speak.” Joshua said seriously

 

Neku then gave Joshua his undivided attention and allowed him to continue speaking

 

 

To be continued…


	14. Embrace the Universe

Joshua then explained to Neku how he and Mr. H are not unstoppable, adding that they’re aware that Neku knows this already, however Joshua he explained why him and Mr. H having to lower their vibe frequency is bad

 

“As you know, we use these forms to power down since humans are good vessels for storing energy, storing the energy that allows them to exist, they’re souls. But this also presents a problem for us at the same time Neku. Think back to when we fought the Noise in the UG do you remember a time when I got hurt?” Joshua asked

 

Neku then hid his face again to sort of disconnect from Joshua for a moment to focus on those thoughts

 

“Yeah…that time when we fought Pi face up on that skyscraper in Pork City…the time when…I thought you gave up your life for me, when you protected me. Before all of that even happened though, when he’d attack us in his lion Noise form I could sense you being in pain from time to time” he said weakly

 

“Exactly so that means that if I can get hurt, then I can also…be killed too” Joshua said darkly

 

Neku then looked up at Joshua startled to hear that to the point he gasped

 

“What?! I mean, I figured that when you wanted me to shoot you, that you would get killed but...I didn’t when you shot me” Neku said shocked

 

“That’s because I have complete control over the UG Neku, If I had done that to you in the RG…well…technically I already have but that’s besides the point, what I’m saying is, is eventhough I'm the Composer, I'm still vulnerable too” Joshua said seriously

 

“seriously?” Neku said confused

 

“Yes, he may target my Fatal Wound Spots, the nickname we Death Gods made for the areas that are often times targeted when trying to kill a human. When enough damage is inflicted on these spots, the human either dies or suffers a fatal wound putting them at the brink of death. But just like in the UG, in the Higher Plane, if we're attacked in those areas, we're simple knocked out. There is an exception to this though” Joshua explained

 

“Unfortunately I have those too when I‘m like this, all humans do, that’s what lead to your death in Udagawa. I shot you in the chest. The chest, spine, head and neck are the most vulnerable parts of the human body but especially, the side of a human’s skull” he continued

 

“Huh? Why the side of it?” Neku said weakly

 

“Because Neku, the skull is like a shield for your brain, it protects it. The side of the skull is the most vulnerable part of it. If you were shot there, you would’ve died instantly” Joshua said with a smug smile

 

Joshua getting a little too into the topic of the conversation lets out his sinister laugh and pulled back his hair smiling at Neku

 

“No…” Neku said quietly “So I would’ve died either way when that Gunman came to school? If he had shot me at the side of my head...and the same thing would've happened if I was shot in between my eyes?”

 

“exactly Neku, that’s because the bullet would’ve gone straight through your head with the slim chance of you surviving the shot, if it was between the eyes. Hee hee however, If I had shot you in Udagawa in between the eyes, the bullet would not only have more to penetrate but it would miss the vital parts of you brain that are needed to live Neku. In other words there would be a 10% chance for you to survive that” Joshua said slyly

 

Joshua then saw Neku’s eyes tremble at the thought of surviving a shot in a the head…or in the chest like in Udagawa

 

“What‘s wrong?” Joshua asked slyly

 

Neku then hid his face and took a deep breath and sighed

 

“Nothing, I‘m fine” Neku said weakly trying to hide how he felt scared at the moment

 

“Glad to hear it” Joshua replied knowing better, sensing Neku’s fear

 

“Anyways, think back to when you killed Hunters in the Angels’ Game. Did you notice how once they would go to their human form, and were killed in that state that they would Fade a little slower and would Fade into Orbs that dissolve into thin air after a few seconds? This is only when they’re shot in a Fatal Wound Spot or with the Instant Kill Shot. If they were hit in an area that they could survive than their human form would die much more slowly.” Joshua said crossing his arms

 

“As a god I’m kind of Omniscient, I’ve seen this happen before and I’ve sensed how Composers and other Angels feel when they’re dying in that state. In other words, if the attack is deep enough, instead of knocking someone out when targeting the head, neck, chest or back, instead...we die. There's something else you need to know too” he added

 

“What?! So you and everyone else here with a human form can still die like a living person?!" Neku roared in shock

 

"Joshua, what’re you to tell me?” Neku said a little nervous for the answer raising his head to look at his menacing friend

 

“I’m saying that if they die a slow death from being stabbed in the stomach, as opposed to the chest, and not instantly Fade, that their Composer or Angel form is locked inside their human bodies. They become so weak that they can’t even revert back to their true form. In this moment, once they start to shut down, the only way to save them, is to tear apart their human form and release their Angel or Death God form so it can be healed. If they die in their human form with the true form stuck inside, then their true form Fades too, as a result of it getting so weak in the process of them dying" Joshua said sternly

 

“Knowing how crafty Anthony is, he’ll do anything to get to you Neku" Joshua said darkly

 

Neku then squeezed his Angel pin desperate to ignore the thought creeping into his mind

 

“So…if Anthony doesn’t kill me, and keeps trying to kill everyone in his way…my friends…he might try to do that to them?!” he thought horrified

 

“I don’t want to lose them, I can’t…

 

Neku then hanged his head as he felt his eyes burn at the thought of Joshua and Mr. H Fading right in front of him

 

“CAT” Neku thought “I don’t want it to be like that, I don’t want it to be that way! But…What the hell am I suppose to do if that happens?! What if I mess up and I don’t heal you in time if this happens, what if I--

 

He then feels someone place their hand on his left shoulder making Neku look up at the person

 

“This wasn't supposed to hurt you Phones. Come on now, where’s that confidence you had before? Nothing’s going to happen to us, it’ll be okay. Joshua only told you this so just in case something like this happens, that just in case this isn’t avoidable that you’d know what to do. This is sort of like why I taught Shiki how to make a human form, as a last resort, not for her to really use it.” Mr. H said sternly

 

“How can I enjoy the moment when I know that all of you could get yourselves killed…because of having to protect me?” Neku said looking down

 

“You can enjoy the moment by being happy that we’re right here. We’re not going anywhere Phones. Besides once you achieve God Status you’ll finally be able to make all of these problems with Demons hunting you come to an end. You’re stronger than me now you know? You’ve gotten so strong since when you first came here, so I know you can do this. You have a strong spirit Phones.” Mr. H said smiling

 

“Yeah I know…it’s cause I’m a Higher Mind” Neku said weakly

 

“You're right, you are a Higher Mind, but it’s also who you are” Mr. H said causing Neku to look up at him

 

“Who…I am?” he said confused

 

Mr. H then nodded

 

“You’re not a quitter Phones, if you were you would’ve just given up on yourself and not try to put up with what the world did to you. Sadly, that’s what happened to Shiki, the world made her Soul weaker and weaker to the point she gave up on herself making her body her entry fee. But she became strong just like you. Sure you get overwhelmed, you get discouraged, even in the Reapers’ Game I could sense it beginning to overwhelm you, but even when it made you want to give up, you pushed yourself forward, when you know you could have.” he continued

 

“You could’ve let the Noise kill you, and not even put up a fight, or give up when you were the last Player. But even then you kept fighting, it’s who you are Neku. That powerful Mind of yours is what contributed to your Soul becoming that strong, to the point you were the perfect pick to be the Composer's Proxy. So don’t worry about this cause I know you’ll pull through.”

 

Mr. H then patted Neku on the head causing him to smile

 

“There you go Phones” Mr. H said smiling

 

“Heh, you always know what to say Mr. Hanekoma. You just…understand me. In a way…I’m actually kinda glad I died in Udagawa that day” Neku said smiling

 

“Really? How come?” Mr. H said a little startled

 

“cause I got to meet the person, that inspired me, and…see how amazing he is” Neku said scratching his neck feeling embarrassed

 

Mr. H feeling extremely flattered scratched his neck and then placed his hand down smiling at Neku

 

“Heh, you know you really know how to butter me up kiddo. Enjoy the moment more, remember?” Mr. H said happily

 

“Yeah…thanks” Neku said smiling too

 

Mr. H then thought it would be good to let Neku relax after all of that turmoil and stress he felt. Joshua agreed (since he knows that after they review Neku’s progress, that the final half of his training would start) and decided to take advantage of that and catch him by surprise to make his reaction as authentic as possible. Neku sat in the grass and meditated on his other forms again.

 

“I’ve got this, I’m almost there. Then when this is over I can finally take him out, and I’ll be free” Neku thought as he concentrated

 

As Neku relaxed and focused on his Composer and Angel forms Mr. H and Joshua approached him as white orbs glad that Neku was in such a state of peace that he doesn’t suspect them.

 

They then became their human forms and dove at Neku, he then sensed their presence causing him to open his eyes and teleport away from them. Joshua stepped in and attempted to punch Neku in the face and do high and low kicks in an attempt to hit him.

Thanks to his training Neku reacted quickly and dodged all of Joshua’s attacks. Mr. H then attacked him from behind blasting Angel energy at him. Sensing the energy Neku then teleports away from the energy blast

 

“Guys what’re you doing?!” Neku shouted

 

Joshua then pounced at Neku with Composer energy in his hands and swiped at his Proxy causing Neku to dodge the attacks again, generate Composer energy in his hands (so Joshua’s energy wouldn’t burn him) and then grabbed Joshua’s right arm and swung him at Mr. H causing him to get knocked back.

The two immortal friends rolled on the ground from the impact and then got back up with Joshua running towards him. Mr. H then teleported behind Neku sensing how he was getting nervous from his friends suddenly attacking him and decided to hint at what they were doing.

 

“Don’t let your fear slow you” Mr. H said sternly

 

Neku then gasped and turned around (briefly taking his focus off of Joshua) Joshua then wrapped his arms around Neku’s chest and shocked him with Composer energy. Mr. H then charged at Neku with Angel energy surging in his hands. Finally understanding what they were doing Neku closed his eyes and opened them activating his armored form while simultaneously sending a blast of energy at Mr. H and Joshua causing them to teleport away from him.

 

Neku then teleported over to Joshua and grabbed his left leg and swung him at Mr. H, teleported over to Joshua again and blasted energy at him.

Joshua then retaliates by blasting energy at Neku. When Neku’s energy dissolved Mr. H and Joshua noticed that Neku had disappeared and to in their fighting stances preparing to track Neku’s energy.

They then looked up to see him holding an orb of his energy the size of a boulder and blasted it at his mentors.

 

“How did he…I’ve never seen a Human Soul make an orb that big” Joshua thought as he dodged the orb alongside Mr. H

 

Feeling empowered Neku finally unleashed the strength of his soul at them.

 

“I’ve got this, they want to see how strong I’ve gotten” he thought

 

He then flew at them at incredible speeds to the point he was a blur and attempted to slash Joshua and Mr. H who had made a dome of their energies to block Neku’s. he then teleported above the dome and blasted his energy into it causing Mr. H and Joshua to go flying back.

 

“Now let’s see what you can really do” Joshua thought

 

He then snapped his fingers and became his true form along with Mr. H doing the same, they then went full vibe frequency and blasted energy at Neku. He then blasts a massive amount of energy at them making it surge like fire.

 

Neku then holds out his left hand and redirects the energy making it wrap around him like a wall to block the energy.

 

Knowing that he can’t when they’re in their true forms, he disappeared again once his energy wall dissolved and unleashed dozens of orbs at them causing Mr. H and Joshua to create a massive dome of energy and blast it away making Neku’s orbs dissolve

 

“He just recreated an advanced Angel technique with his own energy? Heh, he just keeps getting better and better” Mr. H thought proudly

 

Neku then unleashed a massive blast of energy making it act like lightning and then held out his hand focusing on making the energy stronger. Mr. H then blasted the energy making Neku’s begin to dissolve, he then snapped his fingers, became an Angel (making the energy he shot become Angel energy) and made the energy blast through Mr. H’s energy blast.

 

Mr. H, Joshua and Neku then all flew at each other and became white beams of light (with Joshua’s being a little gray) and they all clashed trying to push each other back. They pushed for a few minuets until Mr. H and Joshua both dissolved back to their Composer and Angel forms.

 

Neku then flew at them seeing them return to their human forms causing Neku to power down too. Mr. H then charged at Neku causing him to swing his right leg underneath Mr. H causing him to trip landing on his back.

 

Mr. H chuckled and smiled at Neku who extended out his hand to help him get up. Mr. H then grabbed Neku and stood up feeling so proud of him

 

“heh, you’ve really come a long way you know” Mr. H said smiling

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“You think?” Neku said smiling

 

“Definitely I’m proud of ya Phones” Mr. H said giving him a thumbs up

 

Joshua then stood with his hands in his pockets smiling too

 

“Good work Neku, I noticed you were unleashing more Angel techniques on your own, as a Human Soul. Very impressive” Joshua said pleased

 

Mr. H and Neku then noticed he became very serious causing them to do the same

 

“But you know what happens next don’t you? You remember why I told you…about who I am? You can’t mess this up Neku” Joshua said sternly

 

Neku then hid his face

 

“You told me that…for me to know you…before I died” Neku said darkly “that attempting to achieve God Status is like a death sentence…that if I mess up and don’t let the energy flow properly that I’ll…face Soul Obstruction”

 

“I know that this seems impossible Neku, but Beat, Shiki, and Rhyme did the impossible, they became Angels so they could save you from Clarissa. So I know that you’ll…find a way Neku…you always do” Joshua said with his hands in his pockets

 

“He’s right Phones” Mr. H said smiling “I know you’ll make it through this. Come on, I’ll take ya to the outskirts of the Composer district, then we’ll get started”

 

Neku then raised his head and smiled glad that Mr. H would there for him through all aspects of his training. Mr. H then opened a portal and walked into it, with Joshua and Neku not too far behind him.

 

They then walked out of the portal to see they were on another mountain but from here he could see the entire district. He saw endless valleys, gardens and mountains in addition to the floating islands. He’d never seen such a natural, rural place other than the forest in the Angels’ Game

 

Everything was vivid in color like he was staring at a painting.

 

“Whoa…this is…the whole district? This is where you live?” Neku said amazed

 

Mr. H then chuckled at how Neku was looking in awe

 

“Yup, home sweet home. It’s quite a view huh?” he said smiling

 

“Yeah, I think I even see that sort of worm whole looking energy not too far from here, you know, the pool of arrival?” Neku said enjoying the view remarking on how he saw some forms of energy appearing from it

 

Joshua then chuckles

 

“it really is a nice view. This is…my home Neku” Joshua said with his hands in his back pockets

 

“When this is all over, you can visit this place anytime you know” Mr. H added

 

“yeah in a way, I guess this is my home too” Neku said smiling

 

Joshua and Mr. H then began the final half of his training, they opened a portal into outter space and began to instruct Neku on what he needed to do.

 

“well now, let’s see how this turns out” Anthony said smiling at Izawa

 

“Do you really believe that Neku will Fade sir?” Izawa asked

 

“Of course, but on the miracle that this little boy somehow succeeds I already have a plan for that as well. After all, he won’t be able to access that form, if he’s too weak” Anthony replied

 

“Did I ever tell you about how one becomes an Angel Neku?” Joshua asked

 

“No…is it like achieving God Status?” Neku asked

 

“yes, but on a much larger scale. When a Human Soul becomes an Angel, they’re absorbing the energy of the afterlife itself. To become a Death God, one would have to absorb the energy of the afterlife but also absorb only part of the universe as well, or the way it‘s done in the UG. Since I too, am a god, but not what you’re going to become” Joshua answered

 

Neku then felt his eyes widen

 

“wait so…to become a Limitless God, to be even stronger than you I--

 

“Would have to embrace the universe itself. Energy exists all around you, the energy that gave your human body life, your Soul, what you are now, has a connection to the universe Neku. All living things have a soul, enabling you to do this” he said seriously

 

Neku then stared at the portal that lead to space naturally feeling a little nervous

 

“That explains one of the fusions I did with you Joshua…I felt weightless, like I was in space…I…I have to go…in there?” Neku said looking at the portal

 

“That’s exactly it Neku, you actually were in space when we did that fusion, but since we were in the UG and you were technically dead, it didn’t affect you. Also to answer your question, yes Neku, you need to go in there and absorb the energy of the universe to achieve God Status” Joshua said flicking a piece of his hair

 

“And don’t worry Phones, I’ll be here incase you don’t feel safe or something happens” Mr. H said reassuringly

 

Neku then took a deep breath and sighed

 

“Yeah…thanks Mr. H” he said smiling

 

Mr. H then smiled at him

 

“You’ve got this, just don’t worry” Mr. H said laid back as usual

 

Neku then leaped into the air causing him to float and nodded at his Guardian friend. He then slowly flew over to the portal, looked back at Mr. H and Joshua then flew closer extending out his hand. He then entered the portal and was surrounded by stars, asteroids and galaxies.

 

“It feels…cold here but…not too cold, just chilly” Neku thought “Is it because I’m dead and wouldn’t be affected by space the same way?”

 

Joshua then instructed Neku on what to do next

 

“Good job Neku…now just let the energy flow inside you, close your eyes and just relax. Remember what I told you about breathing, just do that if it helps” Joshua said telepathically

 

Neku then closed his eyes and did as Joshua instructed, causing him to drift deeper into space as a sign of him beginning to merge with the universe.

 

“I’m…drifting, but why? Is this part of the process?” he wondered

 

Neku then held out his hands as he attempted to absorb the universe but remembered what Joshua had told him, that this process usually kills souls, that he only had one chance to get it right. He could sense that a sun was near him and so were a few planets.

 

“hey, heh heh, it’s the solar system…the one that I’m from, that all people are from. Maybe I should go further” he thought

 

As he thought about going deeper into space he started to leave the solar system and eventually floated outside the milky way

 

“Just go a little further Phones, you can do this. You’re doing pretty good right now” Mr. H told him mentally

 

Neku then raised his head (still eyes closed) and took a deep breath

 

“The world ends at my horizons” he thought pushing himself “I have to go further. Just…accept it, I won’t falter anymore…I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna get this right”

 

As Neku began to focus more on succeeding rather than the huge chance of him losing his afterlife, stars (though not as big as suns) began to fly towards him. The moment they collided with his soul Neku grunted as he felt a jolt from the energies colliding. More and more stars all flew into Neku causing him to go from short little grunts, to whimpers of pain

 

“Nnngh! What’s happening to me?!” Neku screamed in his head

 

“It’s okay Phones just relax, this is part of the process” Mr. H said reassuringly in Neku’s head “those jolts are your energy and the universe crashing into each other. What you need to do now is head for a galaxy to absorb it, so don’t go to the milky way, that‘s where humans live…you know, Earth”

 

“Nnngh! O-Okay, I’ll try” Neku said out loud

 

Mr. H and Joshua couldn’t help but feel worried as they sensed how Neku’s energy began to weaken, it was starting to overload him from trying to take in the Universe’s energy.

 

As Neku desperately tried to become the Ultimate God his friends were trying to preoccupy themselves while he was gone in his training. Shiki then sighed as she was hanging out in her house

 

“I should probably go see Eri…it’s sort of boring now being here doing nothing” she thought

 

Shiki then got up and began to walk out of her half of the house

 

“I wonder how Neku’s doing…is he okay? He’s too far away for me to sense anything…I hope his training isn’t too much for him” she thought worried

 

She then went to Eri’s house and knocked on her door (a force of a habit from being alive for so long)

 

“Hey Eri it’s me, you wanna hang out?” Shiki asked

 

Eri (who was working on a design) stopped what she was doing and walked to the front door and opened it greeting her longtime friend

 

“Sure” Eri said being her bubbly usual self

 

They then began to walk around Shibuya when they spotted someone

 

“Yo!” someone shouted

 

“Over here” another voice shouted

 

Eri and Shiki smiled seeing Beat and Rhyme by the Hachiko statue and walked over to them

 

“heh, this is sort of like when we all hanged out for the first time isn’t it?” Shiki said smiling

 

“Yeah, I know whatchu mean yo. Except Phones ain’t here, but I’m sure we’ll see him soon yo. His trainin’ gotta be almost done now…right?” Beat said smiling

 

Rhyme then giggled

 

“Yeah I can’t wait for all of this to be over, so we can do this again with Neku here. You know…sometimes I still can’t get over it Shiki” Rhyme said happily

 

“Get over what?” Shiki said a little confused

 

“How the girl I spoke to in the UG wasn’t even you, heh heh. I’m glad you got your body back” Rhyme said smiling

 

Shiki then couldn’t help but grin knowing that without him, she would still hate herself and still want to be Eri.

 

“Yeah me too. I really owe a lot to him you know? I’m glad Neku was my partner” Shiki said smiling

 

“I guess in a way then when we’re together it’s like one of those before and after pictures huh?” Eri added giggling a little

 

Beat and Rhyme then giggled

 

“yeah it really is” Rhyme added

 

“You know” Shiki said smiling at Beat and Rhyme “I’m glad I got to know you guys too. I didn’t really know you two either and yet you still helped me and Neku from time to time in the UG”

 

They all smiled and laughed happy to have each other’s company and discussed what to do while Neku trained

 

“man I dunno, it don’t feel right hangin’ out widout Phones yo” Beat said scratching his neck

 

“yeah but knowing him, Neku would want us to be happy and not worry about him while he trained” Rhyme added

 

“yeah, that’s a good point” Eri said smiling “I may not know Neku like the rest of you do, but knowing that he went from being hurt by the world, to being able to face the world making him so…sweet and nice…I know he’d want us to be happy…and that…he sees me as a friend too”

 

“Well of course he does Eri” Rhyme said smiling “You’ve put yourself at risk to save him multiple times. You didn’t have to do that you know since you don’t really know him. But even so, you’ve been there for him, just like the rest of us”

 

“thanks Rhyme” Eri said happily

 

Rhyme then giggled happy to just be with everyone

 

They all smiled and continued hanging out, walking around the city eager for Neku’s return, and as they did this Neku began to struggle in his training

 

He felt himself begin to burn as his soul was starting to fall apart. He drifted towards a galaxy and felt his soul begin to weaken even more causing him to be surrounded by his energy as he flew closer to a galaxy.

 

“Nnngh! I have to do this!” Neku screamed

 

He then drifted into it causing the energy to surge like lightning, it was becoming too much for a mere human soul to absorb, making Neku squeeze his hair as he screamed in pain.

 

Mr. H then looked at Joshua who smiled at him

 

“You’re not going to start doubting him are you?” Joshua said slyly

 

“You know that this will kill him if he can’t absorb the energy properly, it’s already tearing him apart” Mr. H said darkly

 

Joshua then became serious and crossed his arms

 

“I’m aware of that but it’s not like we can interfere now. He has to pull this off on his own. It’s the only way” Joshua said sternly

 

Mr. H then scratched his head and sighed knowing what Joshua said is true

 

“Don’t let your fears slow you. I know you can do this” Mr. H said telepathically

 

“Mr. H! HOW?! How the hell am I gonna pull this off?!” Neku screamed in his head

 

They then saw that Neku became white outlined in darkblue with the acception of his clothes remaining (while having a bluish tint from the energy glowing beneath them) and Neku’s hair color becoming distorted, being a yellow orange instead of it’s vibrant, fiery mixture of colors.

 

“Don’t let your fears slow you?” Neku thought “Wait a minute…that’s it! That has to be it! I have to do this. Shiki, Beat, Rhyme and Joshua all put themselves at risk to save me…

 

He then flashed back to when he was the Demon Lord beating his friends to the point they were nearly Fading hearing their screams of agony, like a vision. He remembered nearly killing Mr. H during the false invasion and remembered how as Damien, he suspended Shiki into the air choking her while simultaneously summoning red orbs of Demon energy to kill Shiki with

 

“I did that to them…I nearly killed them, and they STILL had my back! They knew that that wasn’t me, that I would never do that to them and they STILL took that risk!” Neku thought beginning to focus on what and who this training is for

 

He then flashed back to when he met Cedric and how helpless he was seeing himself surrounded by his energy

 

“If Joshua hadn’t had saved me when he did then I…I wouldn’t even be here…

 

He then remembered when he was in Clarissa’s War and how a Demon shot lightning at him and how Shiki took the hit for him.

 

“They’ve all been there for me, I’ve always been helpless here! I’ve always been over my head!

 

He then flashed back to when the Higher Ups nearly killed him for failing to kill Mr. H and Joshua in the Angels’ Game, and how all his friends were there for him.

 

“They all put their afterlives on the line, knowing that the Higher Ups could kill them too!" Neku thought again

 

As he focused more on his goal, his powerful thoughts caused his energy to surge with strength causing his energy to back into him with a darkblue aura glowing around him surging like fire

 

“I’m not letting that get wasted, all the things they’ve done for me!

 

He then felt his energy burn him like he was getting a sun burn as his entire body turned white and the galaxy he was inside of began to fly into him shocking Mr. H and Joshua simply watching in awe

 

“If I Fade now, then everything they’ve ever done will be for NOTHING!”

 

He then lets out an inhuman roar sounding a lot like a lion as he lets go of his hair and felt his head tilt up as the energy surged even more causing the darkblue energy to become gold. Neku then closed his eyes and takes a deep breath letting it out slowly, as he drifted further into space, he then drifted down towards Mr. H with his palms faced upward and gained a pale yellow tint. once he landed on the ground he then opened his eyes and saw his mentors staring at him in disbelief

 

The portal of space then dissolved and all the Composers and Angels stopped what they were doing looking at Neku in shock, even the Higher Ups (still in their domain were filled with shock and teleported to the Composer district) all the Composers and Angels then gazed at Neku as some of them began to create a crowd near Mr. H and Joshua, including the Higher Ups

 

Everyone (including Mr. H and Joshua) then bowed to Neku going full blast, with the exception of the Maestros removing their hoods revealing themselves to Neku, and then going full blast as a way of admitting that he was now stronger than them.

 

Being the most powerful being in all of the afterlife, Neku had now finally achieved God Status


	15. A Demon's Wrath

Neku then looked in shock seeing everyone bow to him, he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Should he like it? Should he feel embarrassed he wasn’t sure, to top it all off he was especially thrown off by the Higher Ups bowing to him. He felt strong and empowered yet…a little confused. He had limitless power now but was unsure of what to do at the moment.

 

Mr. H and Joshua then returned to their human forms causing some of the other Angels and Composers (including the Maestros) to do the same making Mr. H smile at Neku. He noticed Neku’s eye color was inverted so to speak. His eye was gold where his eye would be and yellow where is blue-gray irises would be and was pupiless much like his Angel and Composer form eyes.

 

Neku, just like Joshua’s Death God form, also looked older in his Ultimate God form

 

“So how do you feel Phones?” Mr. H said with his hands in his pockets

 

Neku then smiled at his Guardian friend while also smiling at Joshua

 

“I feel…incredible. There’s so much power…I can feel myself burning but…it’s warm like my Angel energy” Neku replied

 

Joshua then smiled with his hands in his back pockets

 

“Good, that means you’ve fully adjusted to the energy Neku. But do you remember what I told you about this form? How risky this is?” he asked smugly

 

Neku then saw what Joshua was referring to as a vision

 

“I know” Neku replied “Back when you told me about what’s happened to you, I remember you saying that I’ll lose myself in this form if I use it for too long, that I’ll lose my personality and then get overwhelmed by the energy”

 

“Exactly” Joshua replied “So remember to only use this form if you feel like you really have to. It’s the only way to prevent this energy from killing you or removing your personality from it”

 

“Yeah, I’ll power down then” Neku said smiling a little

 

He then placed his hands on his head to focus and concentrate on changing back but the moment he opened his eyes he saw another vision: his own death

 

He saw Shiki crying as she held him in her arms and he saw his other friends crying too. He was white outlined in dark blue with orbs coming out of him. The orbs dissolved at a faster rate and more of Neku’s body became massive orbs and he heard Shiki say something to him in the vision

 

“Neku…Neku please don’t go”

 

“I’m…Fading” Neku thought frightened

 

The vision then ended and he returned to his real form. The remaining Angels and Composer then went back to their business and the Higher Ups went back to their realm. Mr. H and Joshua then became concerned seeing Neku squeeze his hair

 

“Nnngh! Man…that was…I gotta slow that down” Neku said weakly

 

“what’s wrong?” Joshua said curiously (instead of being worried)

 

“Nothing” Neku said answered “I Nnngh! I just think that…I switched back a little too fast”

 

Mr. H then walked up to Neku and placed his right hand on tired friend’s shoulder causing Neku to be surrounded by white energy again. He then lets go of his hair and smiled at Mr. H

 

“Thanks” he said looking up at him

 

“Don’t mention it Phones” Mr. H said smiling

 

The Angel then placed his hand behind his neck and chuckled a little bit just feeling so happy

 

“Huh? What’s so funny M. H?” Neku said a little confused

 

“Nothing, I’m just…well…happy. I’m happy to have seen you come this far that’s all. I guess I’m just…proud” Mr. H said happily

 

“You’ve come a long way Neku” Joshua added

 

Neku then scratched his neck feeling a little embarrassed from all the praise

 

“Yeah well…that’s only cause I got lucky” he said shyly

 

Joshua then crossed his arms

 

“You know Neku, I don’t really think it was luck…I could sense how your energy began to empower you once you focused on your goal instead of the pain you were feeling. Remember what I told you? How your fears hold you back? When you fought us with the power of your soul, you were using multiple Angel techniques and nearly blew me up with that massive orb you made. Your energy is so strong that you can deeply burn people with it, almost incinerating me if I didn't get out in time. You really have gotten stronger Neku, I think that strength is what helped you in the long run” Joshua said sternly

 

“You think so?” Neku said weakly

 

Joshua then chuckled and placed his hands in his back pockets and replied to Neku

 

“Of course, after all, that powerful mind and soul of yours is what made you a perfect pick to be my Proxy”

 

Mr. H and Joshua smiled at him with Mr. H lightly nodding his head

 

“Heh heh, thanks” Neku said smiling

 

Neku then placed his hands in his pockets and pondered what to do next

 

“So, what now?” he said curiously

 

“Well your training is complete Neku, and since you can do anything in your God form there’s no need to train you. You can literally do anything and have all the knowledge you could ever want” Joshua replied with his hands in his pockets

 

Neku then looked at him in shock

 

“I still…can’t believe it Josh…that’s insane”

 

Joshua then smiled a little and chuckled at Neku’s remark

 

“Well, I suppose so. Especially since once this is over you’ll have all eternity to master that form…anyways you should get going, after all you know what happens next right?” the Composer asked

 

“Yeah…I know. Then after that…the Higher Ups will have forgiven me of my crimes as Damien…I know what I have to do Josh” Neku said darkly

 

He then turned away from Joshua with his back facing him and Neku then moved his left arm to the left making a portal back to the HP Shibuya and then placed his arm back by his side

 

“Listen…Josh…I know it’s hard for you to be around me, I mean I’m a human soul, you’re a Composer, a Death God. So I know how that has to feel awkward considering what your job is but…no matter what happens, from here on out, I just…wanna say…I’m glad that I met you. I’m glad that I got to know you and…It'd be kind of cool it if…when I do this…that you’ll be there with me” he said weakly

 

“Neku?” Joshua thought confused “He really does trust me? Even after all the things I’ve put him through? How I killed him multiple times, how I used him to nearly destroy Shibuya…and how I betrayed him…making him so enraged with me that he bursted to tears. But…why? Why would he trust someone that did all of those things to him? Why? Why does he like me?”

 

Hearing Joshua’s thoughts Neku chuckled and turned his head towards Joshua with a little smile on his face and replied to his confused friend

 

“that’s because…I trust you. I know that you’re just…like me, heh heh. You were the first person I really clicked with you know? The first person to see the world the way I did…you don’t see it but…just knowing that I had that…knowing that I found a friend I could relate to…knowing that there were other people out there that shared my values…it really helped me understand things that I would’ve never known otherwise. I know that when it really comes down to it that you’re…my friend”

 

He then turned his head back and walked towards the portal

 

"See ya" Neku said as he walked away

 

“Yeah…see you…later” Joshua mumbled

 

The fiery haired teen then walked into the portal and exited it landing in the Scramble Crossing

 

“Talk about Déjà vu…landing here of all places in the city” Neku thought as he walked out of it

 

His friends were all hanging out at Shiki’s part of the house where the fashion loving teens all showed their designs to Beat and Rhyme, they all talked chatting about their excitement at the thought of Neku achieving God status and wondered if his training was over. They then played tin pin slammer a few rounds with each other and after that grew a little bored

 

“Ugh there’s gotta be something we can do here, I mean we live in Shibuya…sort of” Eri said bored

 

“Yeah…this is fun ‘n all but I can’t help but feel bored…it just feels like something’s missing when he’s not here” Shiki said a little embarrassed

 

“Seriously yo, Shibuya’s huge man. Ain’t no way someone could get bored in a place like ‘dis yo. There’s gotta be somethin’ yo” Beat added

 

“yeah I mean this city’s so popular that people from all over the world go to Tokyo just to visit this place" Rhyme said giggling

 

Beat then smiled

 

“Damn, that’s tight yo” he said gleaming

 

They all giggled at Beat’s amazement by that and then decided to get up and wander around the famous city but the moment they focused on the city they all felt a presence making them all become ecstatic

 

“NEKU!” they all cried happily

 

They teleported outside of the house and ran towards the Scramble Crossing instantly spotting him thanks to his bright orange hair.

 

As Joshua watched this happen Mr. H urged him to go and hang out with Neku, that he deserves to have a moment of peace with them. Agreeing that he would like a little break, he teleported to the HP Shibuya landing on the 104 building.

 

As they all caught up with him they then all shouted his name causing him to look back gleaming with a sense of joy seeing his friends again

 

“Heh…hey guys” he said smiling

 

They then all took turns hugging their lanky friend starting with Shiki then Eri, then Rhyme before being nuggied by Beat again. He then explained how he achieved God Status amazing all of his friends.

To celebrate his success they then strolled around the city wanting to give Neku a moment of peace but as they did this a ball of light flew towards Neku before becoming a human that gently floated down towards his friends

 

“Room for one more?” Joshua asked sarcastically

 

“heh, sure Josh. Just out of curiosity…how come you showed up? Knowing you I thought you’d be bringing more people to the Higher Plane” Neku said with a little smile

 

Joshua then placed his hands in his back pockets

 

“Well, a certain Angel said I should do this, as a way to sort of relax after helping you with your training” the Composer said nonchalantly

 

His friends then giggled

 

“Sure yo, you ain’t foolin’ no one Prissy boy. Keep denyin’ it all you want man, but it’s gettin’ old” Beat said teasingly

 

Joshua then let’s out his creepy little laugh and pulls back his hair

 

“Whatever you say Beat” Joshua said slyly

 

His friends then smiled knowing what Beat was hinting at and just continued walking

 

“I know you’re watching me” Neku said at Anthony telepathically “But whatever you’re gonna do to me…just bring it, cause now I can handle it”

 

The demon lord then smirked happy to see Neku so confident, he then became very serious

 

“It’s time Izawa. I know exactly what I’ll do, I KNOW Sanae will do anything to protect him, and I mean anything so I believe it’s time to give Neku more of an idea of what he’s going up against…to reveal to him a…larger portion of my energy to him” Anthony said darkly

 

The Watchman then saw how serious Anthony was and couldn’t help but feel concerned

 

“Sir? Are you sure? I wouldn’t want this plan to fail by any means, but you know what Sanae could do to you due to his vast experience in facing our kind” Izawa said cautiously sensing Anthony’s impatience

 

Anthony then smiled

 

“I already have that planned out” he said just barely beyond a whisper

 

He then snapped his fingers summoning four Soul Stealers and a clone of himself and addressed his clone first

 

“I want you to go to the Fledgling district and remain invisible until I give the signal, it’ll be obvious since Neku himself will be that signal. Once I do a certain attack to him that’s your cue to restrain Neku, understand?” he said sternly

 

The clone then smiled

 

“Of course” Anthony’s clone responded

 

He then told the Soul Stealers what their mission was and they went to the Composer district

 

As the friends all walked around the city still in the Scramble Crossing, Neku then asked Shiki of he could tell her something important

 

“sure what is it Neku?” shiki said noticing the stern look on his face

 

His friends then kept walking giving them some space

 

“While training to become the Ultimate God, my Demon energy was spiking up again, I saw myself as some…dark gray mist outlined in purple. Even if my memories of what happened back then are a little hazy, I know what that thing is. It’s my Virtuoso form…I don’t want to be that thing ever again…not unless there’s no other option. I can only use so much of my God form before it starts to remove my personality…and kill me…

 

Shiki then looked at him in shock

 

“WHAT?! But then what’s the point of using that form if it’s that risky?!” she roared infuriated making all of his friends turn around standing in place

 

Neku then hid his face and squeezed his angel pin

 

“That's because, other than my Angel from's True Power state, my God form is stronger than him, it’s the only way to kill him” he said darkly

 

Shiki then hanged her head

 

“Neku…” she said sadly

 

He then continued and Shiki raised her head to look at him

 

“that’s why while training to open up my mind and understand how my Angel and Composer forms work, how their energies flow, that I came in contact with the core of my Demon energy. I was inside my head and It...It sent this jolt to my body and I felt it really burn me" Neku said darkly

 

"What?!" she said in shock "But I removed Clarissa's demon energy from your mind! so how is there still demon energy there?!"

 

"That's because...out of all the energy that's inside of me, Demon energy has been inside me the longest. Which made it merge with me to the point that it made the core of the demon energy inside me take on the appearance of me, when I'm a full demon" Neku said still hiding his face in his funnel collar and hands in his pockets

 

"When the demon energy core took on the form of Damien, he...he said he wants to come back Shiki…the core wants to control me...and we both now how tricky demons are by now. So…I need you to do something for me alright?”

 

“Neku” she said weakly “what’re you saying?”

 

“I’m saying that…that if my demon energy for what ever reason starts to consume me, that I want you to take it out. I want you to remove my demon energy” Neku said weakly

 

She then felt her eyes water

 

“NO!” she roared startling him making him look up at her “I’m not gonna do that to you! You know what that does to Human Souls remember?! It kills them! I’m not gonna do that to you Neku!”

 

He then sighed

 

“Shiki…please just…let me explain. Think back to why you learned how to make a human form. You did that just incase things turn for the worse and you had to make my body to seal my soul inside of it. If you removed my Demon energy and then did that, then…the energy would be gone and so would Damien. I know what I’m asking you to do is…well…insane but, if that happens…I’m asking you, as my friend, to please take that away from me” Neku said sadly

 

Shiki then hid her face in Mr. Mew and began to cry

 

“how could you ask me to do that?” she said weakly “You really trust me to that point? That you’d take that risk?”

 

He then placed his hands on her shoulders making her look up at him

 

“Definitely, I know you won’t mess up Shiki. I know that you can do that for me…I trust you” he said sternly

 

Shiki then smiled

 

Neku then took his hands off of her shoulders and gave her a thumbs up

 

“Enjoy every moment with all you’ve got right?” Neku said smiling making her giggle

 

“Heh heh, right…okay Neku, as much as I don’t think it’ll get to that point…I’ll help if it does” she said sweetly

 

“C’mon, let’s go” he said with his left hand on his waist again wearing a smug smile

 

“Yeah” Shiki said smiling at him

 

They then walked back to their friends when Neku felt like his feet were suddenly glued to the floor. Shiki (who had walked a few feet away from him) then stopped and turned around.

 

Before she or anyone else could ask what was wrong black energy flew down at Neku blasting him with so much force that it was as if he was caught in an explosion.

 

When the energy dissolved his friends were filled with horror as they saw Neku laying on the ground unconscious. Before they could do anything to help they were then lifted into the air and trapped in dark purple orbs of demon energy.

 

Filled with concern as he watched over Neku and his friends, Mr. H was then about to teleport to Neku when he felt something pin him down,like something was latched onto him, as that force was digging into him.

He felt like he had so much weight on him that he couldn’t even move. The weight made him fall to his knees and stay there being pinned to the ground and felt like he was getting tired.

 

“Nnngh! Soul Stealers!” the angel said filled with pain

 

One of the Soul Stealers then dug its cloak into Mr. H’s human form’s back forcing his Angel wings to appear making the Demon then squeeze Mr. H’s wings making five of its feathers get torn off fading into orbs making him whimper in pain

 

“This is really bad” Mr. H thought “If I move around too much I’ll lose more feathers for my wings, and thanks to their demon energy crushing them, I can’t make them dissolve…there’s too much force. Anthony…he has me right where he wants me…out of the way from his plan”

 

Anthony then walked towards Neku with the entire left half of his shirt torn causing his waist to expose his energy again. His right shoulder and forearm was torn, his left arm was also torn and both of his legs were torn exposing his energy. Anthony then walked over to him again and prepared to attack smiling as he saw Neku regain consciousness.

 

“Good, I’m glad you’re awake” he said darkly

 

“Nnngh…what? What...do you...mean?” Neku mumbled

 

Anthony then charged up demon energy in his right hand and shot it at Neku making him scream as he was recoiled towards the left grunting as he crashed onto the ground. Once he laid on his right side Anthony then began to kick Neku in the stomach making him cough up orbs each time he was kicked making Shiki’s eyes water.

 

“Neku…please get up, don’t Fade” she said sadly

 

The Demon Lord then grabbed Neku by his funnel collar and punched in the face with such force that Neku flew back crashing onto the ground landing on his right side again getting cuts on his body as glass shattered everywhere.

Anthony then shot four orbs of demon energy at Neku again making his frail little body smack against the floor dozens of times until his body made a loud screeching sound as he slid on the glass floor lsying on his left side.

 

As Neku laid there in agony he felt his eyes water as he realized how helpless he was...that right now, he was about to die. Anthony then blasted more energy at Neku, but he was so weak that he couldn't even scream anymore. all he could do was just feel himself roll on the ground again as the blast of energy made him lay on his rightside

“Joshua isn’t there anything you can do?!” Rhyme shouted

 

“No…these orbs are impossible to break, not even Angels can escape them. Only if Anthony is killed or leaves here will they dissolve” Joshua replied

 

“No, so then Neku’s on his own?!” Eri said in disbelief

 

“Phones! Please man, you gotta fight back yo!” Beat screamed

 

Anthony then blasted a massive amount of black demon energy at Neku making him scream as he smacked against the glass floor again and slid on the floor again this time feeling like he broke one of his ribs (even though he doesn't have any) and laid on the floor on his right side again with tears falling down his face.

 

Anthony then smiled as he walked closer to Neku picked him up by his funnel collar with his right hand and slashed it with his left. he then choked Neku with his left hand (knowing that Neku doesn't breathe anymore) created the sensation of his neck being crushed, that Anthony breaking it making the little boy wheeze in pain. he then slammed Neku on the floor and as his body bounced Anthony rammed his elbow into Neku's stomach making him couch up orbs the size of bowling balls.

 

Anthony then generated demon energy in his left hand and stabbed Neku's stomach with it making him scream in pain. he then kicked Neku in the stomach seven times and then kicked him harder making him roll on the ground landing on his left side. the powerful demon then blasted black demon energy into Neku's chest making him scream as he crashed onto the ground geting more cuts as he smashed against the glass floor laying face first on the ground.

 

Neku, overwhelmed in pain tried to get up, but doing so made his arms tremble causing Anthony to stomp on his back eight times laughing at Neku. he then stomped on Neku's right hand making him scream as Anthony broke it, making Neku wheeze in pain. Anthony then snapped his fingers creating a dome of demon energy around him and Neku.

"Noooo! Neku!" Shiki screamed "You have to get out of there!"

 

"Please Neku don't give up!" Eri added

 

Anthony then snapped his fingers again making the energy blast making Neku wail in pain as he was caught in the explosion causing him to be sent flying followed by bouncing against the floor six timed followed by sliding on the ground laying on his right. wheezing as he was filled with agony

 

"I...I'm gonna...die" Neku thought barely conscious

 

Anthony then stomped on Neku's stomach making him cough up orbs again and then summoned demon energy in his hand, letting it surge like lightning, and then shot it at Neku. it released such tremendous force that he went crashing against the floor rolling several times as he bounced on the ground before landing on his right side now wheezing in pain. Anthony then kicked Neku in the stomach six times and fired more energy at Neku making his frail little body smack against the floor over and over making more tears fall from his face, with his eyes now being blurry.

 

"I...I'm...dying. It..hurts...I want to...be an Angel...to fight...but I can't...even move" Neku thought filled with agony

 

his entire body (in addition to leaking energy) was now completely covered from head to his legs in scratches and bruises from him being nearly beaten to death

 

As he laid helpless wheezing in pain Anthony then walked towards him and kicked Neku in the chest and stomach six times followed by ramming his elbow into Neku's stomach again making him cough up orbs the size of bowling balls again making Neku slide across the floor again. he then stomped on Neku's chest six more times and then walked behind him and stood behind him and kneeled down to Neku and squeezed the back of his hair and dragged him on the ground making Shiki feel tears stream down her face.

The same result was happening to Beat. The powerful demon then grabbed Neku by the back of his head and raised the beaten boy to his friends making him face to face with Shiki.

 

She then looked at him wide eyed as his face was covered in scratches and his eyes were halfway open and blurry.

 

“This” Anthony said seriously “is all the pain you caused me. Now you’ll finally understand what it’s like to lose someone important to you, when you killed her. Neku is your friend after all, so now you’ll get to watch him suffer until all that remains of him, are orbs that dissolve into the air”

 

He then dropped Neku onto the ground with a loud thud landing on his face, Anthony, standing behind his foe he then sat on his knees and began to tear the back of Neku’s shirt with his claws

 

“NOOOOO! Neku!” Shiki screamed terrified

 

Regardless of what Joshua said his friends then all summoned their Angel energy desperate to break the orbs, desperate to save their friend.

Anthony then pulled the now barely conscious Neku up by the back of Neku's collar with his right hand and dug his claws into Neku’s back and tore it open vertically with his left hand (the same way Clarissa tore open Neku’s back) causing Neku cringe as the pain increased making him whimper in pain.

The demon then stabbed his back digging his claws deeply into Neku’s back making him cringe and scream from the excruciating pain.

Anthony then dug even deeper making Neku’s screams get louder and louder as he made his hand go deeper into Neku’s back. This then caused the severely beaten boy to feel a sharp needle going into his back making the screams stop and his eyes widen.

 

“Why?” Neku thought exhausted “why…do I…feel numb? My body…it…stings”

 

His friends then saw his irises tremble as the “needle” he felt went deeper. Neku then saw his parents again as flashbacks and remembered when he was little playing with a toy ball smiling.

 

 

“Everything was…so simple back then” Neku thought as his eyes grew heavy

 

The numbness continued and saw himself grocery shopping with his mom, but then the flash backs began to grow shorter. Although he was unaware of it, Neku had orbs the size of bowling balls coming out of his back

 

“Mom, Dad…no…please don’t leave me…I’ve missed you guys so much! PLEASE! Please don’t leave me! if it wasn't for me being with Shiki in the Higher Plane at the start, I would've been what feels like years alone in my house with no one to talk to. I like my privacy, I like being alone...but without Shiki being there in my apartment too...I don't know how long I could be.” Neku thought as he felt his eyes water from the flashbacks feeling real

 

His friends then stared filled with heartache seeing Neku close his eyes ready to collapse

 

“No!” Mr. H screamed “I have to get down there!”

 

He then began trying to get up but the force of the Soul Stealers made him tremble and get knocked back to the ground and lose a few feathers (three) making the angel whimper in pain again

 

“Nngh! I can’t afford to damage my wings like this…but I can’t let him Fade either” Mr. H said worried

 

Neku then opened his eyes one last time with them halfway open and noticed how everything was getting blurry

 

“Huh? Why is it getting so hard to see? W-What‘s…happening…to…me?” he whispered

 

“Everything’s getting…cold” he thought as his eyes began to shut “everything’s getting…dark”

 

Joshua, and all of Neku’s friends then looked at him in shock knowing that soon they were going to lose him.

 

“Neku?” Joshua thought “It…it’s not supposed to be like this…not for him, I see what Anthony did now…Neku can’t access that form if he’s weak, Neku can’t access ANY form if he’s too weak. He was watching us the whole time but…I didn’t think…it’d come to this, I thought he was ready”

 

“NEKUUUU!” Shiki screamed

 

“NEKU!” Rhyme shouted

 

All his friends (other than Joshua) started to call out his name but they all came out as whispers

 

“Who’s there? Who…is…calling…me?” he whispered again

 

“That’s it Neku, just let everything go…this’ll all be over a lot faster if you do” Anthony said mentally

 

Neku’s eyes were so heavy that now they were completely shut

 

“Just…let everything…go” he mumbled

 

With Neku at his mercy Anthony shoved his hand deeper and deeper into Neku’s back until what Mr. H and Joshua had hoped would never happened to him, finally did.

 

Neku then screamed in pain to the point it was almost high pitched from the agony and had tears fall from his face as his chest bursted open shooting out his energy like a laser.

 

Once it dissolved Joshua felt his eyes widen as he saw a gaping darkblue hole in Neku’s chest and saw it surrounded by other shades of blue with an outer layer being a white outlined in dark blue as orbs of the same color flew out of him.

 

Mr. H was then thrown into a state of shock and felt like his human form’s heart just stopped

 

“his…Soul Core? Anthony actually…

 

He then saw another Anthony (his clone) appear responding to the real Anthony’s signal: Neku’s Soul Core

 

And stabbed Neku’s chest making him scream even louder as he felt his body burn and he squeezed Anthony's hand with both of his hand. He was now surrounded by his energy like when he first met Clarissa causing it to surge like lightning

 

Mr. H (although he’s considered a laid back man who almost never loses his cool) was enraged seeing his friend in such a state of pain

 

He then began to try to squirm free knowing that he’s putting himself at risk, he focused on his energy feeling his eyes burn causing his light gray Angel eyes to be revealed and let’s out a fearsome roar as he unleashed a massive blast of energy (like a dome) pushing all of the Soul Stealers back and dove into the portal going to his true form.

 

Anthony’s clone then dug his hand deeper into Neku’s Soul Core, making all of his fingers within the hole making some of his memories go away.

 

“Wait…how…am I…fifteen…when…when…was my…fourteenth birthday…when is my birthday?” he thought confused as he whimpered in pain

 

His memories began to break apart to the point he forgot who his dad was

 

“Masato Sakuraba…who’s that…have I met him before?”

 

Anthony' clone then went even deeper causing only his wrist to show making Neku's friends cry. Just when the clone was about to go even deeper and access Neku's code, a white flash of light blasted him away and zigzagged to the real Anthony in a matter of seconds crashing the real Anthony away from Neku, causing him to land face first on the ground and made Anthony crash onto the ground.

 

Once Mr. H then reverted to his Angel form Anthony got up and smiled seeing how uneven the Guardian Angel’s wings were.

 

“Well this is odd, it’s not like you to get your wings damaged like this huh Sanae?” Anthony said smiling

 

The Angel was silent and merely flew at the demon at break neck speeds, making Anthony do the same with a black aura surrounding him.

 

They pounced at each other with the two powerful beings crashing into each other with Anthony throwing his enemy towards the ground. Mr. H tried to fly upward but due to his wings being damaged it was harder for him to fly.

 

Due to no one attacking him Neku (who was now unconscious from all the pain) began to open his eyes (now clear again and not blurry) and lifted his head to see Mr. H struggling to fight making him terrified.

 

“Mr. H!” he screamed in his head “He has to fight him, he has to! C’mon Mr. H… you gotta do something! wait…his wings! They’re torn?…what happened to him?!”

 

Anthony then blasted black demon energy at Mr. H as he fell causing the Angel to scream as he crashed onto the ground. Fighting the pain he felt, the brave Angel stood up and pounced at Anthony again causing the demon to pounce at him again.

 

They both wrestled as they slashed each other over and over as they floated in the air. Mr. H sent a powerful blast of energy sending Anthony crashing down to the ground. he then flew to Mr. H and blasted him with Demon energy that had so much force that he was sent crashing his back against the floor.

 

When he got up Mr. H reverted to his human form (without his wings being in perfect condition he was weaker and easier to hurt now from being not at his full power)

 

Anthony then snapped his fingers revealing his presence making Mr. H fall to his knees. At that moment he then felt someone stab his back digging into it causing his Angel wings to appear making him scream in pain as they were pulled out.

 

This unknown force revealed itself to be Anthony’s clone which he created again at one point when he fought Mr. H. the clone then squeezed Mr. H’s wings burning them with demon energy making the Angel scream in pain as it simultaneously scratched his human form's body and tearing his clothes, terrifying Neku making him stare wide eyed at the Angel as he wheezed

 

“NOOOO!” he screamed in his head “ This just...can't be happening...This isn't gonna stop him! He's gonna be okay! He NEVER gets hurt like this! C’mon Mr. Hanekoma you can find a way out of this right?!”

 

Neku wanted to get up but he felt too weak all he could do was watch Mr. H whimper as Anthony’s clone squeezed the Angel’s wings. The real Anthony then snapped his fingers summoning another clone standing behind Neku. Waiting for the real Anthony’s next signal.

 

filled with glee with seeing the powerful Angel suffer, the demon decided to torture Mr. H before killing him. he summoned demon fire in both of his hands and fired the energy at Mr. H's chest making him wail in pain causing Neku to look at his role model in shock as he panted

 

"Mr. ...H...Nnnnnnngh! please....Nnngh! don't..." Neku wheezed in pain

 

the demon then burned Mr. H's body and clothes even more as he engulfed him in a dome of demon energy before exploding it with Mr. H within the blast making him scream again sending him flying away. Anthony then held out his hand dropping Mr. H face first on the ground.

 

The clone then stomped on Mr. H's back seven times making him cough up six orbs he then took his foot off and stabbed Mr. H's back tearing through he shirt making him scream to the point he cried as energy leaked through his back. The real Anthony then kicked Mr. H by his ribs rolling him to his left side and then kicked his stomach seven times.

 

After that he then stomped on Mr. H's chest with so much force he broke one of his ribs making the weak and tired Angel scream at the top of his lungs and then stomped on him making him wheeze as he coughed up orbs the size of bowling balls.

 

"Mr. H! You gotta do something!" Shiki yelled

 

"Please Mr. H! you can do this!" Rhyme shouted

 

"Don't let him win!" Eri cried out

 

"Coffee man, you got this yo! don' let this demon punk hurt you PLEASE!" Beast screamed

 

but Joshua was speechless looking at Mr. H with his eyes watering

 

"Sanae...I know you can do this" Joshua thought sadly

 

When he looked up the Demon then stabbed Mr. H in the stomach making him scream in pain the clone Anthony then stomped on Mr. H's back making him lay face first on the ground as he wheezed. the clone then pulled him by the back of his head upward and held his wings making Mr. H lay in his knees.

 

By now his entire body was covered in scratches and he leaked Angel energy all over his body, making Anthony dig into Mr. H's skin and stab and slash him making him scream in pain again. he then walked closer and choked Mr. H making him wheeze and gasp for air.

 

He hen squeezed Mr. H's neck even tighter making his eyes widen and stabbed Mr. H in the stomach again. wanting to savor the moment the demon then backed away from and wanted to make fun of him

 

Anthony then smiled at his beaten foe hearing Mr. H wheeze in pain and yet he also felt disappointed and began to mock Mr. H (only doing this since he knows that no one can interfere)

 

“You know I have to say I’m a little disappointed in you” he said teasingly

 

Anthony then crossed his arms

 

“Heh, so this is the Great Sanae Hanekoma? The powerful Guardian that earned a reputation of killing every demon he ever fought? That facing this mighty angel was certain death for my kind? You haven’t fought a Demon like me in years and it shows” he said smiling causing Mr. H to hang his head knowing that to be true

 

he then walks closer to Mr. H and kneals down to him so they're face to face and squeezes the back of Mr. H's hair causing his breath to go down Mr. H's neck, happy to see that he had patches of Angel energy was leaking out of his entire body

“You’ve gotten rusty old man…you’re not as good as you use to be, even if you were at full power the result would be the same”

 

"No... it wouldn't be" Mr. H snarled "If I was at my full strength right now, I would be strong enough to kill you, and you know it. So that's why you wanted to power me down, so there was no risk. Am I wrong Anthony?"

 

Cocky, though knowing deep down this was true, Anthony looked away for a few seconds and then looked back at Mr. H, prepared to kill him, only to see Mr. H close his eyes and focus his energy, generating a white aura around him.

 

"Thanks to my crimes being forgiven, I'm finally at my full strength again. I know there's a huge risk of me destroying this district, but even if it's just for a few minutes...I have to do it" Mr. H thought

 

he then opens his eyes instantly becoming his Angel form with his wings stretching to their full length, being 16 feet long. The wings then go from looking soft and feathery to becoming stiff like metal, the wings then dissolve to reveal energy underneath it. The energy was the same color as his Angel's body. Seeing this, Anthony made his clone dissolve, knowing he'll need every bit of energy to fight Mr. H in this state

 

"Huh? Mr. ...Hanekoma? I've never seen his wings like that...is this...his full strength? my Angel form...isn't it able to do this too?" Neku thought while laying on the ground trying to get up

 

Sensing Neku's confusion and how due to fatigue he's a little disoriented, Mr. H smiled a little and gave Neku a little reminder

 

"Don't worry Phones. Your pal Mr. H here is alright. This is what Angel Wings look like when we take off our covers for the energy. That's what the Angel feathers are. This is what we Angels truly look like, when the cover is gone"

 

in a split second the then became a bolt of lightning and slammed into Anthony 13 times, making Anthony scream in pain as black chunks of demon energy came blasting out of his body, making Neku's friends smile.

 

"YES! he's really doing it" Shiki thought happily

 

"C'mon Coffee Man, pound that demon punk!" Beat said excieted

 

"You've got this Mr. H!" Eri yelled

 

"I know you you've got him now!" Rhyme sad smiling

 

"Just be careful Mr. H" Joshua said out loud

 

Mr. H then unleashed a massive explosion causing the blast radius to slam into Anthony again, making him slam onto the ground. He then saw this as a chance to run towards Neku and finish him off, as he saw Neku finally managing to stand up again. As he ran towards his target, he then stopped in his tracks, to see Mr. H instantly teleport infront of him arms crossed.

 

"I will NOT let you harm him anymore!" Mr. H said sinisterly

 

"CAT...this is...how strong you really are?" Neku thought amazed seeing how wounded Anthony was

 

the powerful Angel then grabbed Anthony by his neck and threw him into the air, only to teleport to him and blast energy at Anthony, making him scream in pain as he smashed onto the ground, making a creator. Mr. H teleported to the ground again sheilding Neku. As gazed at his Angel friend in awe, he then looks towards his left and right and gasped feeling nervous

 

"What's happening? Why are the buildings of the Higher Plane Shibuya dissolving?!" He thought worried

 

Neku then looks at Mr. H

 

"Wait...this is...really him? This is how powerful Angels really are? that any weaker district instantly begins to break?" Neku thinks wondering if he's really safe

 

sensing his worries, Mr. H turns his head to the left and smiled, looking over his shoulder.

 

"You're right to be worried, and what you were thinking is true, but don't worry. I'll use my full strength for just a bit longer. I don't want you and the others to be in danger of Fading away. It'll be okay Phones. I'll do whatever it takes to protect you from him. Just wait a little longer" Mr. H says in a gentle tone, making Neku more relaxed

 

Anthony trembles in pain and sees how black demon energy was pouring out of his entire body as he coughs up orbs

 

"NO! I'm so close, Sanae is so close to killing me, I can't die like this! he's right there! even if Sanae's energy is healing him, Neku is still wounded! I can finally kill him and avenge my sister. She'll know, that little girl Neku's friends with...Shiki, she will know what it's like to watch someone you care about DIE!" Anthony thought becoming determined

 

"If Sanae is going to push himself harder, then I will too!" he thought focusing on trying to kill Mr. H first, and then Neku

 

Mr. H flapped his wings once, creating a powerful gust of wind that was a sonic boom, making Anthony go flying back even further away from Neku. As the Guardian Angel then flew towards Anthony sending Angel orbs down on him, exploding like bombs upon impact with the ground.

 

Anthony then creates a clone which heals him of his wounds and Anthony then creates a black aura around his body, using more of his true strength before becoming his true form. Black mist with purple energy outlining it with bright redish purple eyes

 

This makes more of the Higher Plane Shibuya break apart, causing the new spirits to panic as the city began to dissolve

 

"This has to end now!" Mr. H thought

 

at that moment, Anthony smiled as Neku and everyone else screamed in pain at the mere presence of his true form. Mr. H then flew towards Anthony, only for him to snap his fingers, causing Mr. H to feel a sharp jolt of pain in his wings, as Anthony began trying to burn them.

 

He then makes his Angel wings reappear to shield them from Anthony's energy. The demon then smiled as he merely snapped his fingers again making Mr. H feel like he's being crushed and lands on his knees reverting to his human form.

 

At that moment, Mr. H then screamed in pain as his feathered wings began to dissolve, severely hurting Mr. H and draining his health, he was now at the verge of Fading as his human form was instantly covered in deep scratches and his clothes torn again as another Anthony Clone began tearing Mr. H's feathers off. As this happened then a clone then reappeared behind Neku

 

 

He then backs away a few inches and summons demon energy in his right hand and allowed it to flicker like fire (the signal for the clone to pick up Neku, and did just that by the back of Neku’s funnel collar)

 

“No! What’s he doing?!” Neku thought as the clone lifted him

 

The clone then summoned demon energy in his hand and made it like fire and was preparing to stab Neku killing him, but not until he watched the man he respects to much die. Before that though, just to make sure Neku didn't get any ideas, he electrocuted Neku with demon energy making him almost pass out

 

Anthony then walked closer to Mr. H smiling

 

“Mr. H?” Joshua thought concerned

 

The angel’s human form then raised his head and looked at him smiling

 

“I’m sorry, I wish it didn’t have to end like this. Thank you…for everything Yoshiya. You’ll watch over him for me, won’t you? He said telepathically

 

To have him call Joshua by his real name filled him with sadness

 

“Sanae? You’re better than this! You’ve gotten out of situations like this before” Joshua said mentally

 

“I know…but right now my energy is even lower than a Fallen Angel. I'm almost down to the Conductor ranking, I’m not at my full strength anymore...the wounds are too deep...please forgive me for failing at my job”

 

Mr. H then turned his head looking straight towards Neku saddened to see Neku’s eyes wide-eyed, watering with a tear going down his left cheek

 

“You can’t…please…Mr. H don’t go! You can‘t lose to him, YOU JUST CAN‘T! YOU ALMOST KILLED HIM!” Neku screamed mentally with tears streaming down his face looking in shock

 

Mr. H then smiled at him

 

“Being a Guardian means even if there are specific people I want to be there for, I must also protect the citizens of the Higher Plane, and often times being a soldier means I have to go into danger, knowing that I might not come back Phones. It’s all part of the job…

 

Deciding that Mr. H had grown a little too comfortable accepting the situation the clone holding his wings said something that made Neku terrified

 

“So Sanae, did you ever tell Neku what happens when an Angel loses their wings?” Anthony’s clone said darkly making Neku gasp

 

“No” Mr. H said weakly “I was hoping he would never have to know, that he would never be in this situation”

 

The clone then laughed and pulled Mr. H’s wings making the Angel scream to the point he had tears streaming down his face, as Anthony tore out twenty of his feathers and then placed his hands back on the bottom of his wings, listening to Mr. H pant out of breath and wheeze in pain. He pulled them more and more determined to pull them out of Mr. H’s back making Mr. H scream again.

 

As dizzy and weak as Neku felt he wanted to help Mr. H, and be there for him the same way he’s been there to protect him when he’s in danger.

 

All he could do was wheeze in pain as his entire body ached and grew even weaker making him feel like it was being burned and his body was white outlined in blue with his clothes getting a darkblue tint to them from the energy glowing beneath his clothes. Even his hair color began to fade making it a pale blonde with a bluetint to it.

 

“CAT…” Neku thought “Please…don’t go”

 

"Mr. Hane...ko...ma" Neku wheezed

 

 

He then felt his back begin to burn as he felt something other than his own energy go into his back

 

“Nnnnnngh! S-Stop” he whimpered

 

Anthony’s clone (the one holding Neku) had dug his demon energy into Neku’s back, with his fingers being completely in Neku's back making him scream in pain causing Mr. H to look at him horrified as the clone slid his fingers even deeper until only his wrist showed knowing that he was powerless to stop Neku's suffering

 

"AAAAAAAGH! MR. HANEKOMAAAAAA!" Neku screamed

 

he then felt his head drop as he wheezed in pain looking at the Guardian Angel

 

“I want the last thing you see, to be you watching the man you respect so much…die” the clone snarled

 

"Phones" Mr. H whimpered

 

Mr. H screamed in pain again as the clone hurting him squeezed his wings even tighter and began to slowly pull them out of his back (the only reason it was taking so long is because of how strong Mr. H is, making it harder to pull out his wings)

 

The real Anthony then smiled

 

“As much as I’ve enjoyed your suffering Sanae, I feel like this has gone on too long…after all, all good things must come to an end”

 

Mr. H, knowing what would become of him hanged his head with his last words addressing Neku and Joshua

 

“Joshua…I’m so sorry that it had to be this way…I know that when we became friends that  I said that I’d always be there for you, and that as your Guardian I’d do all that I could to protect you Yoshiya…but now, you’re the one that has to do the protecting. Your Proxy needs you. please…please, do that for me. I know I can count on you”

 

Joshua then felt his eyes water

 

“Sanae? You…you said you wouldn’t leave…that...we were friends. You were the only person that made me not feel crazy” a disheartened Joshua thought

 

He then addressed Neku knowing that it would be the last time he ever speaks causing him to raise his head and look at Neku seeing the sorrow in the Proxy’s eyes

 

“You know…I’ve never been good with names…I’ve always been better at remembering people by their faces, how they looked, which is why I sorta ended up calling you Phones cause of your headphones heh heh. But…I feel like…I’ve gotten a little better at remembering your name now, I think I actually know it now…

 

Mr. H saw Anthony (the real one) get ready to strike causing his eyes to water and smile at Neku, giving the fiery-haired teen a sense of determination. As weak as he felt, Neku began to feel stronger.

 

“Neku Sakuraba, I’m glad…I met you”

 

Hearing Mr. H finally say his name sent chills down his spine causing Neku to be overwhelmed with sadness

 

“No…” he whispered

 

Feeling frustrated and enraged at the thought of losing the one person that was there for him even before the Reapers’ Game, Neku’s energy surged like fire making Neku scream and sent a dome of energy that blasted the clone away from him and actually burned the clone. In order to not obtain anymore damage it then dissolved back into the real Anthony.

 

He was overwhelmed with agony, he felt like a cannonball was shot through his chest, that his back was stabbed and torn open by a knife, and that his whole body was burning. It ached to the point it was hurting him to move but he didn’t care. He didn’t think, didn’t plan anything, all Neku could do was run clenching where his ribs would be with his right arm, while his left one dangled like a rag doll.

 

Mr. H then hanged his head and closed his eyes

 

“I’m sorry…I tried all that I could…but I failed you…all of you” Mr. H thought to the Higher Ups

 

Anthony then slashed the powerful energy at him…but instead of hitting Mr. H, attempting to impale through his head, which would’ve killed him, it hit someone else

 

“Nnnnnngh!” a voice grunted

 

Mr. H opened his eyes and looked in shock, both he and Anthony were startled to see who protected him. But it only made Anthony smile

 

“You pathetic, little, idiot! I was almost using my true power when using that energy, and because of how beaten you are, now you’ll only Fade even faster” he said slyly

 

All he could do was wheeze in pain clenching his stomach before passing out causing him to let go of his stomach landing face first on the ground.

 

“Phones” Mr. H said sadly

 

The real Anthony then turned Neku onto his back so he could destroy Neku’s Soul Code, and dissolved his right arm to be black demon energy with a blue-gray aura around it, making it surge like fire and prepared to stab all of that power at Neku’s exposed chest. he knealed down to Neku's chest with his demon energy being a few inches away from it, getting ready to stab him with the energy of his true form .

 

Mr. H wanted to stop him but he was too weak he knew if he moved too much now, he could lose more of his feathers. But he also new what his job was, and wasn’t going to let Neku’s bravery be for nothing.

 

As exhausted, and in pain he was, Mr. H closed his eyes and focused his Angel energy (making his body burn even more) making a light gray aura glow around him. He then opened his eyes and tried to squirm free causing more feathers to fall as Clone Anthony squeezed even tighter seeing Anthony begin to dig his true demon form's energy into Neku's Soul Code with his fingers within the hole in Neku's chest

 

"Nekuuuuu!" Mr. H screamed

Anthony then went a little deeper into Neku's Soul Code to the point only his wrist showed, he was just a few seconds away from crushing Neku's Soul Code making Mr. H squirm even more desperate to save his friend

“It’s your life or his Sanae” he said just beyond a whisper

 

Mr. H then closed his eyes and opened them making them pale gray Angel eyes (making the aura dance like fire) he then unleashes a dome of energy burning the clone making it dissolve, while simultaneously going to his true form and soared towards Anthony knocking him away from Neku.

 

He then smiled and opened a portal

 

“this isn’t over Sanae, if it wasn’t for the fact that I’ve used a lot of energy I would kill you both right now…but let me just leave you with this to think about…

 

“You can’t protect Neku from the truth for that much longer, you know as well as I do that he has more in common with MY kind than yours. Neku is a being of sorrow. No matter what happiness is in his life, sadness and the pain of the world still has its grip on him and nothing, not even your little imprints will change that.” Anthony said darkly

 

“Neku isn’t like that anymore, what the world did to him no longer damages his mind and soul. He’s not like you guys…and even back then, he never was like your kind” Mr. H snarled

 

Anthony then chuckled and walked towards the portal

 

“such denial. Keep telling yourself that Sanae, it’ll only hurt him more when Neku learns the truth”

 

He then walked inside the portal leaving the HP Shibuya causing the orbs to dissolve and all of Neku’s friends to go running up to him and Mr. H

 

“Mr H!” they all screamed

 

they all see him wheeze in pain as he fell to his knees with a white aura surrounding him. he healed all of his deep wounds exposing his energy allowing him to then stand up but didn't heal anymore than that so he could save his strength for Neku

Once all Neku’s friends were in front of Mr. H they all asked if he was okay and if Neku would be okay

 

“Nnngh! Yeah I....Nnnngh! I...I'm fine, we need to focus on Phones” Mr. H said urgently

 

Joshua, being calm and collected as usual interrupted him

 

“Mr. H you need to power down and reserve your energy. You’re missing huge chunks of your wings and they were nearly torn out of you. Power down Mr. H and that’s an order” he said crossing his arms

 

The Angel then revealed his mouth and smiled a little

 

“Sure thing boss” he replied knowing that Joshua was hiding how he was really feeling

 

Mr. H then snapped his fingers and became his human form allowing his wings to dissolve so they could repair themselves

 

“I’ll get him up yo” Beat said sadly

 

The strong freaking rhino then gently picked up Neku careful not to touch his Soul Code.

 

“Dontchu worry Phones, ya big brother Beat’s gonna help you yo” Beat thought as he felt tears building in his eyes

 

“Neku’s at the brink of going to the last layer of energy before Fading, when he’s white outlined in darkblue, if it wasn’t for the fact that his Soul’s gotten a lot stronger since when he first came here, he would’ve been killed just now.” Joshua said crossing his arms

 

“Infact he technically should’ve Faded already, these are some of the deepest wounds I've ever seen. Neku roughly has about a minute before going to his last layer. We have to take him to the Composer District, it’s gonna take a lot of energy to heal him since his Soul’s so damaged” the composer said sternly

 

Neku’s friends nodded in understanding and Joshua opened a portal that lead to the Composer District

 

They all then walked inside it, once they got out Beat then gently placed his little brother on the floor careful not to hurt Neku’s back. He then backed away and Rhyme held his hand.

 

Joshua then told Neku’s other friends that due to how deep Neku’s wounds are he would have to go full vibe frequency and that being so close to his true form would kill them unless they were in their Angel forms.

 

They then became Angels and Shiki and Eri helped Joshua heal Neku’s exposed energy starting with his Soul Code…

 

With Anthony now at full strength he lurked in the shadows allowing them to heal Neku so he could lure him into the Demon realm where he’ll have more of an advantage

 

 

To be continued…


	16. Lurking

He was surrounded by darkness again, slowly regaining consciousness and could faintly hear voices speaking

 

“Do you think he’ll be okay?”

 

“He’s really hurt thanks to Anthony…I’m just glad he’s healed”

 

The first two were Shiki than Eri

 

“Don’t worry, you two did a good job healing his wounds. It helps that you’re both as strong as Mr. H”

 

A smug Joshua replied

 

They were faint and muffled like Neku was underwater, his eyes felt so heavy but they gradually lightened in weight allowing him to open his eyes as he lets out a grunt of exhaustion

 

“Nnngh!”

 

Shiki, Eri, Rhyme, Beat, Joshua and Mr. H all smile as they see Neku wake up. Everything came out as a blur as his eyes regained focus

 

“Guys…I…I didn’t Fade?” Neku mumbled

 

Shiki then couldn’t help but smile, relived that Neku was okay

 

“Yeah…you’re okay Neku” she said sweetly

 

He then tried to get up but his friends saw him whimper in pain as his arms trembled as he tried to get up

 

Shiki then placed her hand on Neku’s shoulder gently pushing him back down

 

“Easy Neku, we just healed you. You wouldn’t want to open up those wounds again from hurting yourself” she said kindly

 

“Here, this should do the trick” Mr. H said smiling

 

He then kneeled down to Neku and placed his hand on Neku’s head making him close his eyes to focus on feeling the energy, healing him of the fatigue he felt. Mr. H then lets go of his forehead and backs up from Neku. He then manages to sit up still a little disoriented but no longer in pain.

 

“Mr. H? You’re okay?! But HOW?!” Neku shrieked

 

“You, heh heh. You saved me Phones” Mr. H said smile

 

“Me?” he said in shock

 

Neku then tried to get up placing his hands on his knees as he struggled to push himself upward, but he succeeded in doing so none the less, eventually letting go of his knees and standing up normally

 

Mr. H then patted Neku’s head filled with a sense of pride towards him and placed his hand back down

 

“Mhm, you took a big risk you know. But it was because of that risk that I’m still here. Since I can tell you’re still a little disoriented, I’ll fill you in. You shielded me from Anthony’s attack. He was gonna stab me with his demon energy…and since I was at a lower height than him, being on my knees, if you hadn’t had done that, the energy would’ve gone through my head” the Angel said seriously

 

Neku then gasped knowing what that would’ve meant

 

“So…then I…I really…

 

Neku then hanged his head burying his eyes within his bright orange bangs and hid his hands in his pockets

 

“Mr. H…what about your wings? I remember seeing them with huge chunks of feathers missing…and what Anthony said…he said something about an Angel losing their wings. I’m still not sure what he meant by that…but I…I didn’t want to find out” he said weakly

 

Mr. H then sighed knowing that he would have to tell Neku, putting yet another concern on the Proxy’s mind

 

“I know how awful that must’ve felt seeing those things happen to me, and I’m sorry that you had to see that Phones but, you need to know…what he was about to do to me…

 

Mr. H then summoned his wings making Neku look up as he sensed a bright light in front of him, watching those lights become Mr. H’s wings

 

“My wings, as you can see, are all better now. I’m fine really, but what Anthony was going to do to me, would’ve killed me because just like Reapers, an Angel’s power is stored within their wings." he explained

 

"When we unleash our full power, it makes our Angel feathers dissolve into Angel energy, revealing what Angel wings are beneath the feathers, the true form of our wings. But if the feathers are torn from our bodies or the wings are ripped out of an Angel, it rips apart our true energy, we Fade” Mr. H said darkly

 

Seeing how Neku was in a state of shock knowing how Mr. H almost died Joshua tried to snap him out of it. He then walked next to Mr. H with his hands in his back pockets with his usual smug smile and chuckled at his Proxy.

 

“What’s wrong? I thought the fact that you saved Mr. H would make you happy Neku. Do you not feel happy that he’s here? Don’t you see what you did? A human soul, a mere ghost protecting a Guardian Angel is unheard of. It’s always the other way around…and yet you did just that” the Composer said smiling

 

“You’re also still here thanks to us. You should’ve Faded Neku, but thanks to your mind and soul being so strong we were able to heal you just in time. Should we have been only a few minuets late, you would've died. I know it may not seem like it, but you have gotten stronger. Back when you first came here, a demon could almost kill you in one hit. Now, it takes longer, because of you growing stronger." Joshua explained

 

"but, it took a lot of power cause of how weak your soul was making us have to bring you here to the Composer District so I could go full vibe frequency and Shiki and Eri healed you of your energy being exposed” he added

 

“Beat, boosted up your energy to make you stronger since your soul was at such a fragile state, and Rhyme used her mind and hopes of wanting you to be okay to amplify your mind. while I patched up your Soul Core and your memories. They were already in pretty bad shape to the point you forgot when your own birthday is and even who your father is”

 

Joshua then finally concluded telling Neku why Mr. H went last

 

“Mr. H then gave you the finishing touch of getting rid of your fatigue when you regained consciousness, he spent the rest of the time we were healing you to heal his body and wings since he was at the verge of death”

 

Neku then hanged his head again feeling guilty

 

“All this time…you guys have stood by me…I couldn’t have asked for a better…friend. There’s been plenty of times when you guys could’ve just…left me, and toss me aside like nothing ever mattered, like the rest of ‘em…but you didn’t. that’s why I know now when I go to kill Anthony…I’m…I’m gonna do it alone” Neku said squeezing his angel pin

 

“What?! But we’ve only gotten this far by sticking together Neku!” Shiki roared angrily

 

“Shiki” Neku said weakly “Look at what happened, Mr. H was almost killed, I was almost killed…I don’t want to lose another friend…you guys…all of you are…important and are apart of how I expanded my world. I can’t lose that again, so…I…I have to face him alone so you guys don't get hurt, I have to do that so--

 

“Neku” Shiki said cutting him off

 

Mr. H and Joshua backed up as Shiki and friends walked up to Neku giving them room

 

Shiki then stood in front of Neku and smiled holding Mr. Mew against her chest

 

“You really think I’m just gonna give up on you let you face him alone? After all that you said to me, all that we went through both in the UG and Higher Plane? What kind of person would I be? You’re not gonna slip back on me now, are you Neku?” Shiki said sweetly

 

Neku then raised his head smiling at her

 

“Don’t count on it" he said smiling

 

Beat and the others then walked up to him too

 

"I ain't lettin' no more of this crap happen to ya man. you ain't doin' this alone man cause I ain't lettin' ya!" he said with a smile

 

Neku then looked at his friends filled with confusion, heartache and shock all rolled into one

 

“so…friends…they’re…loyal to you…they stand by you…that’s why you guys did all of this? And stood by me all this time, because you…wanna be…my friend?” he said weakly

 

 

Eri then added how she felt smiling at him

 

"Yeah, that's why we're all here, Beat's right you know? besides, after all that Anthony's done to you, I'm not gonna be on the sidelines this time. Now that I'm strong enough, I want to end this with you" Eri said happily making him smile at her

 

Rhyme and Joshua then walked up to him too

 

"So, I guess it's settled huh?" she said smiling at him

 

"Yeah...you guys sure? I mean, you know how risky this is?" Neku said scratching his head

 

"We're sure Neku. you know how much I love destroying demons, so I guess I'll join too" he said nonchalantly making Neku chuckle

 

"good, we'll definitely need some Death God energy on our side" he said with a smirk with his left hand on his waist

 

“And remember, since you guys have my angel energy, I'll be with you all every step of the way, so you’ll always have support Phones, plus you’ll have my Angel pin with you” Mr. H said smiling

 

“Thanks Mr. Hanekoma” Neku said glad that he had so much support

 

"any time Phones. By the way, there's something I always wanted to tell you" Mr. H added

 

"really? what's that?" Neku asked

 

"No matter what happens, from here on out, I want you to remember this, right now, no one, not even me, Joshua, or the Higher Ups know what is going to happen because whatever Anthony has planned, hasn't happen yet. This is your shot, you can determine how this goes down. In other words Neku, the future is yours to command" Mr. H said smiling

 

Neku looked at him in shock at first, never really thinking of the future like that before, but then smiled

 

"The future is mine to command? that makes a lot of sense actually. Thanks Mr. H, I'll definitely keep that in mind" Neku said grateful

 

"glad to hear it" the angelic friend said happy that Neku feels confident

 

But just as Neku began to feel more comfortable about the situation he was startled to hear a certain voice making him and his friends all let go of each other feeling a little nervous

 

“You know, I found this little moment to be rather…interesting…you really think you can kill me now just because you have your God form? Using that form for too long will not only kill you, but it will remove your personality in the process”

 

Neku then got in his fighting stance and closed his eyes, he then opened them making his irises become gold

 

“You think I don’t that? Heh, you demons are all alike, you try to scare people so they’re easier prey to kill. Oh and by the way, I hope you’ve enjoyed your afterlife, cause you’re good as gone” Neku said feeling confident in himself

 

“There you go Neku, that’s the Neku I know from the UG” Joshua thought

 

Anthony then appeared to them as a shadow that became a black mist that became his usual demon form

 

Neku then turned his head towards his left looking behind him to talk to his friends

 

“We up for this?” asking his friends

 

“You know it!” Beat shouted

 

Anthony then began to walk towards Neku causing fellow Angels and Composers to teleport away knowing how intense the fight was going to become. The powerful Demon Lord then smiled as he began to build up power

 

“Say Neku, did you know that high leveled Angels, some Demons can have Noise forms?” he said slyly

 

“Yeah…like Kurushii, the first Demon Lord” Neku said darkly

 

“Kurushii?” Eri thought “That’s…that’s such an awful name”

 

“Exactly” Anthony replied “speaking of him, I’d like to show you something”

 

Anthony then closed his eyes and opened them making his eyes become completely red (like Neku’s third demon form) and lets out a monstrous roar sounding like a dinosaur

 

Before their very eyes Anthony revealed his Noise form. It was a European dragon like Kurushii’s Noise form but it was more sleek. It was pitch black standing on its hind legs and very muscular with its wings being like Kurushii’s dragon Noise but blueish gray. It’s under belly was also a bluish gray with gray claws and bright red eyes.

 

The monstrous Noise towered over Neku and his friends being at the same height as the Conductor’s Dragon Noise (from fusing with Joshua)

 

Seeing what this fight was coming to, Neku closed his eyes and opened them again to have a gold aura around him while simultaneously letting out an inhuman roar. His friends then stared in disbelief and in awe as they saw Neku become a new form.

 

Subconsciously tapping into his roots, his ethnicity, Neku had now become an Eastern Dragon. It looked similar to a wolf but had powerful muscular arms and dog-like hind legs

 

“N-Neku?!” Shiki said in shock

 

The creature wasn’t a Noise, but it wasn’t really alive either.

 

It glowed as if it was made of energy but it was also a solid figure it was as if the animal was glowing. They also noticed it glowed bright gold before revealing its actual fur color and in this form Neku’s colors of his clothing are all swapped.

 

Its body was white like Neku's shorts and its horns were the color of Neku’s grayish blue tinted shirt, its underbelly was indigo with gold strips outlining it and it had claws matching the color of its horns. However, even in this form Neku’s bright fiery hair remained the same and still had his blue gray eyes with slit pupils.

 

“Whoa…is that…really him?” Rhyme thought a little intimidated by the elegant beast

 

Neku’s dragon energy form then floated down towards his with his back facing them and looked to his left and then turned turning towards them while letting out a soft growl landing in front of Shiki.

 

“Neku…is that…really you?” she said a little worried gazing into his blue gray eyes

 

“Yeah…I’m still me, I’m still here guys” the dragon said telepathically

 

Its thoughts were spoken out loud like when Neku’s in his Enlighten form but his voice was distorted like in his Composer form, sounding like his voice echoed with multiple "Nekus" talking

 

Anthony’s Noise form then roared again and flew towards Neku

 

The dragon form acted quickly and turned around seeing his foe and flew towards Anthony letting out a fearsome roar

 

The two beasts then clashed as they tackled each other biting and scratching each other with their claws and teeth. Anthony’s Noise form (taking advantage of how close Neku was to him) shot demon energy at his chest making Neku’s dragon form scream in pain as it flew downward.

 

“Neku!…” Shiki shouted concerned

 

"Neku fight back! you can do this!" Eri exclaimed

 

“yeah, we’ll help too yo!” Beat shouted

 

Neku’s dragon form then recovered and flew towards Anthony’s Noise form firing his soul’s energy like fire burning the Noise sending it flying back.

 

“Don’t worry guys, I’ve got this” Neku’s dragon form said mentally

 

The eastern dragon then pounced at the Noise form and tackled it to the ground biting its face over and over. Anthony then smacked Neku’s dragon form’s face making roar as it pushed Neku away making the dragon crash on the floor laying on the ground.

 

The Noise form then leaped towards Neku and slashed it in the face, Neku’s dragon form then retaliated by burning the dragon Noise shooting it away from him and then leaping into the air, on its hind legs and slashing Anthony’s face.

 

The two beasts then flew to the ground and ran towards each other with Anthony's Noise form running on all fours. Neku pounced at Anthony slashing the dragon’s chest five times.

 

The noise form then grabbed Neku’s face and bit its snout making the Eastern dragon roar in pain. He then closed his eyes and opened them to reveal them being dark blue.

 

He then got a dark blue aura around him and unleashed a dome of his energy while letting out a fearsome roar sending Anthony’s Noise form flying back crashing onto the ground.

 

The dragon then closed its eyes and returned to being Anthony who smiled since everything was going according to his plan.

 

“You know Neku, I must admit you are very…hostile in that dragon form. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this form of yours makes you act a lot like a beast. Careful, we wouldn’t want to become demonic would we?” Anthony said teasingly making Neku’s dragon form snarl at him

 

Anthony then held out his left hand and opened a portal to the demon realm. He merely smiled at Neku and then walked inside it

 

“Something doesn’t feel right” the dragon form said to his friends

 

“It’s like he wants us to follow him”

 

“Yeah I know what you mean” Eri added

 

“Well c’mon yo, who cares what that demon punk wants! You got this Phones! Let’s start it up!” Beat shouted

 

The dragon then looked towards Beat and smiled and nodded its head

 

“Come on!” he shouted

 

His friends then all hopped on Neku’s dragon form in a certain order (Shiki, Eri, Beat, Rhyme and Joshua) and flew towards the portal. As he did, his friends all remarked on how Neku feels in this form

 

“Neku…your fur’s so soft heh heh” Eri said smiling

 

“and this form…it feels so warm Neku” Shiki added

 

“Damn this is tight yo. That’d be cool if I had a dragon form yo” Beat said smiling

 

Rhyme then giggled

 

“But Beat you’re the Freaking Rhino remember? If anything you should have a Rhino form” she said giggling

 

“I’ll admit that I found this to be an interesting choice Neku, very nice touch becoming an Eastern Dragon” Joshua said with a smug smile

 

“heh heh, you know…this just sort of happened. I wanted to become a dragon that could fight Anthony’s Noise form and the next thing I knew I became this” Neku’s dragon form said

 

They then approached the portal causing them all to become serious

 

“Guys, it’s dead ahead” Neku remarked “Get ready”

 

His friends all then became much more serious causing them to become completely silent and all look towards the portal. The dragon then flew inside the portal causing it to then dissolve

 

“Good luck…Neku” Mr. H said hoping for the best “I know you can do this kiddo”

 

He then immediately opened a portal to watch over Neku and his friends

 

“You know what he’s up to, don’t you?” Mr. H said to the Higher Ups telepathically

 

“Yes…it would seem that the Demon Lord purposely lured Neku to the Demon Realm. Where he will have more of an advantage” Amonae replied

 

“Very true Amonae. But now Neku has his Ultimate God form and finally ready to end all of this” Aiden added “For now, we must hope for the best for Neku”

 

Mr. H then nodded his head agreeing with them

 

"Don't doubt yourself Neku” Mr. H said aloud

 

He then monitored Neku and his friends through his portal

 

Neku’s dragon form flew out of it entering the Black Tears district and landed on the ground. His friends then leaped off of him and saw Neku close his eyes healing the dragon form of its cuts and slashes it had from Anthony. Once all the wounds were gone he opened his eyes and reverted back to his normal state

 

“Yo man, you aight?” Beat asked

 

“Yeah, don’t worry” Neku said sternly

 

“Where are we? Is this the same place your friends went to back when you were Damien?” Eri asked confused

 

“Yeah…this is the Demon Realm” he replied hiding his face

 

“I can already feel it” he thought “this realm is affecting my demon energy. Will it try to consume me again? …No…cause if it does I’ll get it taken out of me…but still I can already feel it starting to spike up. My hands…they’re burning”

 

He then raised his head deciding he wanted to give his friends something, to help them in the long run.

 

“Guys…before we…you know get started…there’s something I want to give you guys” he said sternly “it’ll be through an Imprint though, so I need you to close your eyes”

 

“Okay…sure Neku” Shiki said a little worried sensing how tense he felt…something all his former partners felt

 

They all closed their eyes and Neku imprinted on them how to be more like a ghost. He imprinted to them how to fly, to dissolve into mist, how to combine energy with physical attacks, and to not breathe.

 

He then opened his eyes cutting off the imprint

 

“thanks Neku” Eri said smiling

 

“Heh heh, don’t mention it” he said smiling back

 

They then started walking in the Trail of Black Tears only for Neku to then stop walking, making his friends stop. His memories as Damien started to come back to him

 

“This is…this is where I lost who I was…when I became a Demon Lord. There were other Demons here, and they attacked me saying I wasn’t supposed to be here unless I wanted to become a demon or was already transforming into one. I remember now, they were called Scouters but…they’re not here…no one’s here…

 

Neku then hid his face and placed his hands in his pockets squeezing his Angel pin

 

“They want me to be here…Anthony…he wanted me to come here” Neku said darkly

 

“Neku” Shiki said sadly “We’re almost there, just hang in there okay? This’ll all be over soon and…about the Scouters you mentioned…we had to beat them so we could find you”

 

“Are you sure no one‘s here? Remember that powerful demons like to hide their presence to it looks like they’re not here, so they can ambush you” Rhyme said worried

 

“Yeah” Neku said replying to them both “Thanks…guys”

 

“Please Mr. H…Please…keep me safe…I don’t know why but, I don’t feel right…I feel nervous” Neku thought as he squeezed his angel pin tighter

 

Hiding all his nervousness from them, he took a deep breath and sighed, Neku and his friends then continued walking causing him to let go of his angel pin

 

Once they walked a little further Neku then opened a portal to the next district

 

“Where’s this gonna take us?” Eri asked

 

“This’ll take us to the next district where we can find the Demon Lord or Mistress’s lair, it's a city made by Demons called, the City of the Cursed” Neku replied

 

She then looked at the rest of Neku’s friends and they all nodded knowing once they went in, there was no turning back…something that Neku felt too

 

They then walked inside it and left the portal entering the next district.

 

“So…where do we go from here Neku?” Eri said curious

 

“I’ll show you, but first just of me a second Eri. There’s something I need to take care of” Neku said seriously

 

Neku then closed his eyes and opened them seeing he was standing in front of his mirror again seeing his inner-self as his reflection 

 

“Remember what we talked about?” Neku said to the core crossing his arms

 

"I don't want demon energy to control me. if you start to spike up I WILL get you out of me"

 

the reflection in the mirror, then looked at Neku with hostility

 

“I'm well aware, so there’s no need to worry Neku. I'll inflict suffering upon all who face me, and engulf them within my devastating power. they'll all fall the moment they face you.” demon core Damien said with an evil smile

 

The reflection then grabbed  Neku's hair and smashed him in front of the mirror making them face to face with an evil smile.

 

"So...who do you want to kill?" He said as a whisper, stinging Neku's face with his breath 

 

"Nnngh! Stop! Back off!" Neku screamed as he smacked his reflection away

 

“That’s not how it works, only target Anthony and other Demons, got it?” Neku said sternly

 

“Oh fine, have it your way then. You know, you really know how to ruin my fun Neku” the reflection said disappointed crossing his arms

 

Neku then opened his eyes returning to his friends

 

“what was that about?” Eri asked

 

“I was just reminding the other side of me not to corrupt me” Neku replied

 

He then closed his eyes and opened them to make them become his full Demon eyes. He then told his friends he’d be able to sense where the lair was and for them to follow him.

 

Neku then lead them to what looks like a hotel, placed his hand on it with red Demon energy, and revealed it to be a cathedral. This then triggered another memory of when Neku was Damien

 

_“ah, what lovely architecture” Damien said as he looked at the building_

“this is it Eri...the home of every Demon Lord or Demon Mistress” Neku said darkly

 

“Come on yo! Let’s show that Demon punk who he’s messin’ with yo” Beat shouted

 

“Yeah…and finally end this nightmare of being hunted” Neku said hiding his face

 

He then looked back up and opened the cathedral’s doors and they all entered the building having the doors slam shut behind them

 

“This place…this is where I…would plan to kill you guys…back when I was controlled by Clarissa” Neku said darkly

 

Rhyme sensing how hard it was for Neku to come back here tried to console him

 

“Neku…that isn’t you anymore remember? We’re here to finally end all of this…all of these demons wanting to hurt you and kill you, it'll all be over soon. I know this has to be hard for you, coming back here but, I know you can do this. Push yourself as hard as you can, and you'll see how far you can really go” Rhyme said sweetly

 

He then looked at her and chuckled

 

“thanks Rhyme” he said smiling at her

 

He then looked back at the hallway with a sense of determination

 

“I’m tired of this…I’m tired of being attacked by demons, I want to have an eternity of peace, where I can enjoy my afterlife…I’ve got this…I’m not letting them hurt me anymore!” he said strongly

 

“There you go Phones” Beat said smiling

 

“C’mon let’s go end this” Neku roared

 

His friends then nodded in understanding

 

“We’re with you Neku” Eri said seriously

 

He then looked towards her and nodded his head looked back at the hallway and began running with his friends following him. Using his memories as a Demon Lord to map out the cathedral’s many seemingly endless hallways, Neku then lead them to the hallway that lead to the Demon Lord’s throne room. It was then that Anthony finally began to unleash his true vibe frequency on Neku.

 

Anthony, while sitting in his chair, closed his eyes and opened them creating a purpli-blue aura around him, using the energy of his true form.

 

Neku and his friends all stopped running and walked around the hallway observing everything just incase a Demon randomly tried to attack them.

 

As they did this however, Shiki saw Neku become extremely weak clenching his stomach with his left hand and using his right to hold himself up placing it against a wall.

 

“Neku! What’s wrong?!” she screamed as she ran up to him

 

“Nnngh! I…I don’t know I just…I feel so…dizzy…light headed, I feel so sick” he said weakly

 

His other friends ran to his aid and noticed he had become extremely pale. Neku then clenched his stomach with both hands kneeling like he was about to throw up feeling nauseous.

 

“Neku? Are you nauseous? Don’t worry I’ll make it stop” she said concerned

 

“I…I don’t know if I’m nauseous but--

 

Without any warning Neku started to cough up seven orbs causing Shiki’s eyes to widen knowing that he could drain himself of energy that way

 

“NO!” Shiki screamed running to him (with Mr. Mew on her shoulder)

 

She then placed her hand on Neku’s left shoulder and closed her eyes generating Angel energy to heal him.

 

By now his friends caught up to Neku and were all watching carefully filled with concern for him.

 

As the Angel energy flowed into him it made Neku stop coughing up orbs and eventually let go of his stomach from not feeling so sick anymore with color returning to his face. He then stands up straight and takes a deep breath

 

“thanks Shiki” Neku said as he opened his eyes

 

“Yo man, what happened?! You was gettin’ all sick looking Phones!” Beat said worried

 

“You really scared us Neku!” Eri added

 

“Are you okay now?” Rhyme said urgently

 

“Yeah I’m fine, thanks to Shiki healing me…in all honesty…I don’t know what came over me…I was fine but…for some reason I just felt sick” Neku said responding to everyone

 

Joshua in the meantime had his hand overlapping his mouth with his right hand in his back pocket analyzing what had happened

 

“Could this be Anthony’s doing? I’ve fought Demons as strong as him before but…I don’t think any of them had tried to make me feel sick…is that Anthony’s true presence…and if so, is his true form even stronger than Neku’s Virtuoso form? It has to be. Thanks to his deal with his inner-self, as his reflection,  his demon energy is now at the Virtuoso rank. But what is Anthony planning? What does he want to do to Neku?”

 

“Joshua?” Neku said snapping him out of his thoughts making him look up at him

 

“Hm? Oh…um I’m fine I was just thinking about something” Joshua replied

 

“well what was it?” Neku asked with his left palm facing upward and right hand in his pocket

 

“Oh nothing to be concerned about, I was simply thinking about what may happen later on” Joshua said beading behind the bush…as usual

 

Regardless of how Neku knew Joshua was hiding something, he knew by now that persisting him would only make Joshua dodge the question even more making him ultimately decide to just continue walking.

 

More memories came crashing back to Neku’s head and he remembered being in the throne room seeing the tapestries of Kurushii’s dragon Noise, making his hands burn again.

 And headaches from the memories returning like visions 

 

“the energy…it’s all around me…I can feel it” Neku thought worried

 

As they walked down the hall some more Neku noticed that they were getting close to the throne room and saw the carving of Kurushii’s Dragon Noise at his right making him stop walking.

 

He then head towards the mural. Concerned, his friends then followed him with his former partners all felt how Neku he was feeling nervous as he walked towards the image.

 

“Who is that?” Eri asked

 

“Kurushii” Neku said weakly

 

At that moment his irises became red and pupiless again

 

“this is…his Noise form”

 

“Neku?” Eri said noticing how he just stared at the image

 

Shiki then walked next to him and began shaking his shoulder

 

“Neku? Neku snap out of it!” Shiki yelled

 

“He doesn’t hear her?” Joshua thought becoming a little worried “But…Mr. H told me that Shiki means so much to him that she was what helped Neku cope with my presence in the UG. So if he can’t even react to her then…

 

Joshua then teleported over to Neku and gently floated down to the ground

 

He then looked at Neku curiously with his left hand on his chin

 

“Neku? Are you really going to give up? Even after all that you‘ve gone through?” Joshua asked

 

Neku was then snapped out of his trance making his eyes return to normal and looked at Joshua

 

“huh?” he said confused

 

“Suffer, so you can smile more. When we suffer, we can truly appreciate when we’re happy” Joshua said wisely

 

“Yeah…thanks Joshua” Neku said hiding his face

 

He was about to turn around and start walking when he heard a certain voice making him gasp and turn around to see who was talking.

 

“You really think you can kill Anthony now? If you stay in your God form for too long it’ll begin to tear you apart”

 

“Izawa? But…Beat and Rhyme I remember now…they…they beat you! How are you--

 

Izawa then laughed at Neku’s confusion

 

“I teleported away at the last second to make it look like I Faded, a risky move that I believe your little Composer friend did once too” Izawa explain

 

 

“Oh and don’t worry I’m not going to kill you. It would be going against my Lord’s orders…to make sure no demon kills the Composer's Proxy but him” he said trying to fight his urge to kill

 

 

“So then…the reason that no one attacked us…the reason that the Demon Realm is empty is--

 

“all thanks to me Neku” Izawa said cutting him off

 

Neku then hid his face from Izawa thinking of what to do next

 

“I’m tired of you guys trying to attack me. I'm tired of never living a normal life again" he said weakly

 

He then raised his head feeling strong

 

“I don’t care if Human Souls are weaker than Demons, from now on…I’m controlling my own fate!” Neku roared in his fighting position

 

Izawa’s smile then grew wider at the thought of weakening Neku so it’d be even easier for Anthony to kill him…however he also knew that that was something that he personally wanted to do to Neku.

 

Overhearing the conversation, Akemi and Hikaru appear out of thin air

 

 

"I thought you were really gone" Akemi said sadly

 

 

"Yeah you made your presence so low that we thought it was for real" Hikaru said hanging her head

 

 

Neku and the others, especially Beat and Rhyme then look in shock

 

 

"Wait a minute, you two were...my servants, Hikaru and Akemi" Neku said startled

 

 

"I thought that you were going to back off!" Rhyme said confused

 

 

"Rhyme's right yo, whatchu doing this for?" Beat added

 

 

"I'm sorry, it's our duty to protect the Demon Lord from intruders" Akemi said hanging her head

 

 

"But don't you see? this is the way Neku is supposed to be, this is who he really is, not Damien" Shiki said sadly

 

 

"Even if that _is_ true, he didn't give up the title properly, he didn't retire...he left us" Hikaru said feeling a little hurt

 

 

 

"I can see you both are still adjusting, Especially you Akemi, are struggling to move on from Damien. Now back to the current discussion at hand" Izawa said with a sinister smile

 

 

“I can’t fight you Neku, it would go against my master’s orders” the Watchman said slyly

 

 

 

“then if you ain’t gonna fight Phones, you gonna fight me yo!” Beat shouted ready to punch the demon

 

Beat then stared at Izawa enraged

 

“I swear…I’mma make you demon punks be in a world of hurt for alla the crap you’ve done to Neku. He’s gone through so much crap yo…bein’ almost killed thanks to you…but now…I’MMA KILL YOU!”

 

“NO!” Neku roared “Beat, Izawa’s really strong I can tell! I just…feel his energy. He’s almost as strong as Anthony, I’ve got this”

 

 

At that moment, Izawa snapped his fingers, making Akemi and Hikaru get headaches.

 

 

" **Never forget** what he did to us,  **Neku**  left us all alone. He abandoned and  **betrayed us** " Izawa imprinted telepathically

 

 

With tears streaming down their faces Akemi and Hikaru looked at Neku filled with anger

 

 **"NEKU BETRAYED US!"**  they screamed with bright red eyes 

 

Hikaru then pounced on all fours at him making Neku look in shock as he dodged her swipes

 

"I...I didn't mean to hurt you! I wasn't trying to abandon you! I was never supposed to be a Demon Lord! Don't you see that?! I'm just me! I'm a kid from Tokyo, Japan! I'm from Shibuya, that's my home, not here!" Neku yelled

 

 

Akemi then generated a knife in her hand and ran towards Neku, only for Beat to tackle her and pin her down

 

 

"C'mon Akemi! I know this ain't you yo! I'm sorry that it hurt so bad, but that was never real you know? Whatchu thinkin' Neku should be is wrong! That Watchman Punk Izawa's makin' you feel all hurt!" Beat said trying to calm her down

 

 

As Neku dodged more of Hikaru's slashes, he then grabbed both her hands and electrocuted her with his energy, sending her flying back.

 

 

Beat then did the same making him pull Akemi up causing her to go flying back

 

 

Neku then closed his eyes and felt his energy burn, he then opened them making his irises become dark blue, creating his Energy Surge and placed his left hand on his head amplifying his mind while extending out his right hand creating an orb.

 

Izawa then scoffed

 

“You really think that pathetic little orb will--

 

“Focus” Neku muttered

 

He then extended out his fingers making the orb increase in size and power making it as large as a bowling ball, and then increased it’s size to that of a boulder making Izawa’s widen.

 

“I…I saw him do that during his training but…I thought that was mere adrenaline from the fight. Is this what the little boy’s true power is? When he's let go of fear?” he thought nervous

 

Both the orb and Neku had energy surge around them like lightning coursing with power, he then launched the orb at Izawa making the demon hold out his hand to slow down the orb’s movement.

 

Anticipating this, Neku then snapped his fingers making the orb explode sending the Watchman flying and crashed into a wall feeling his body burn.

 

“I’ll admit it, I’m impressed” he said he was getting up “If you were facing a weaker demon that would’ve left a much deeper wound. But since I’m almost as strong as Anthony, it’ll take more than that if you want to kill me”

 

Neku then summoned two orbs, one for each hand with a stream of lightning connecting them and his eyes glowed white outlined in darkblue.

 

He then made the stream disconnect as he held the orbs more distant from each other and made his hands into a fist, creating instant kill bullets and fired them at the Demon causing him to become black mist and fly away from all the “bullets” and return to his normal form.

 

Izawa then snarled realizing he had to fight back.

 

“I’ve had enough of this” he thought enraged

 

He then attempted to slash Neku with his claws but that only made Neku dodge his attacks and do a combo of multiple jabs and spin kicks to Izawa while wrapping his fists and feet in energy. Hikaru and Akemi then joined in and tried to slash Neku, only for Eri to blast Hikaru with Angel energy and Beat to blast Akemi with Angel energy too

 

Izawa then tried to punch Neku causing Neku to actually block his punches and even use his knee to block one of his kicks. He grabbed Izawa’s fists with each hand and then lets out his audio feedback scream to unleash a blast of sound to send Izawa flying. The maids then teleported to Izawa and caught him, followed by teleporting to Neku.  Hikaru then blasted energy into Neku's chest followed by Akemi blasting energy there too, making him crash against a wall.

 

 

"I'm sorry, I never meant for you two to feel betrayed! You gotta snap out of it! I know you two aren't like this!" Neku said trying to get through to them

 

He then got up and did his usual concentration pose and unleashed a massive beam of Angel-energy, engulfing the entire room, deeply wounding Izawa, Hikaru and Akemi, knocking out the servants.

 

 

"Izawa...it's gotta be him. the only way they'll stop is if I focus on him!" he thought knowing what he needed to do

 

Neku then created his energy armor and flew at Izawa breaking the sound barrier hitting him in the blink of an eye. He flew so fast that he became a blur and zoomed at him from every angle blasting sound at him hitting the Watchman fifteen times.

 

Izawa then blasted Neku back with a dome of Demon energy causing Neku to recover in the air and wall jump off of the wall behind him, leaped onto the one diagonally across from him and leaped to one of the arches and flew off of that one with a burst off speed and blasted Izawa with his energy surrounding him. he did this twelve times and then slashed Izawa in the air again from every angle eight times.

 

Neku then slid past him holding his left hand out towards his friends creating a barrier for them to be safe behind. He then reverted to his normal state panting out of breath.

 

“I gotta keep going” Neku thought

 

He then made his entire right arm (from his shoulder to his hand) go full demon and his left arm become his Death God energy 

 

“this…hurts…it stings…But I’ve got this, I know I can take him down” Neku thought pushing himself

 

Neku then summoned his katana and held it in his right hand making it surge with Angel energy. Neku then lets out an inhuman roar and charges at Izawa attempting to slash him with his sword over and over.

 

Seeing how he was dodging all the attacks Neku then swung his energy scythe at the Demon causing him to back flip onto a wall and pounce at him revealing his true form, a Staccato (music term for a music note with a fast and short pause) demon but with a slight dark blueish black color with a purpleish blue aura around him with black eyes and red irises with a purple tint showing how his form is closer to Anthony’s power.

 

Neku then slashed the demon with sword eight times simultaneously electrocuting him and then swung his energy scythe at Izawa again hurting the demon making him scream.

 

He then soared at Neku going full vibe frequency making him tremble in pain as he felt his head pounding again, causing his arms to go back to normal

 

“Nnnnngh! It…it hurts” Neku screamed

 

“Neku, Watch out!” Eri shouted

 

But at that moment he slashed Neku in the face causing him to slam against a wall dropping his sword. As Neku got up he felt more of Izawa’s presence causing him to scream as he fell to his knees. Hikaru and Akemi and then recovered and approached Neku

 

“He feels…REALLY close to Anthony! I have to use that form…just a little bit” he screamed in his head “But I have to make sure they don’t feel that presence”

 

Neku then opened his left eye (now gold from his God energy still cringing from the pain) and looked behind him holding out his left hand and made a barrier that would block the presence of his God form.

 

“Neku” Shiki said sadly

 

“You have to be careful Neku, you can’t take much more of this. Your energy’s getting weaker” Joshua said mentally

 

“Yeah…that’s why I’m finishing this now!” Neku said mentally

 

the emotionally hurt servants then walked towards Neku and Hikaru grabbed Neku by his collar and lifted him into the air.

 

"Why did you leave us?!" she cried

 

 

"Hikaru, I'm sorry! It's like I told you, I'm not supposed to be a demon!" Neku yelled

 

she then electrocuted Neku with her demon energy making him scream and get slashes all over his body

 

Akemi then sees Hikaru drop Neku only for her to catch him and burn his neck, in an attempt at choaking him

 

 

"I thought you were my friend! I thought you liked me!" she cried out

 

 

"Nnnngh! Akemi...I never meant to hurt you or your sister! I'll make it stop, you won't feel betrayed anymore!" Neku said weakly

 

 

Neku then closes his eyes and unleashed a massive blast of Angel energy sending them flying away. when they got to their feet, Hikaru and Akemi snapped their fingers and became their true forms beneath their demon skin, becoming Staccato demons like Izawa making Neku fall to his knees

 

 

the two girls then stood next to Izawa’s true form to watch Neku suffer. Izawa's true form then began to wrap itself around the weakened boy, attempting to hurt him as he tried to focus his God energy

 

“NO!” he screamed “Nnngh! Get back!”

 Sensing Neku was feeling weaker and weaker Beat then became determined to help his friend. Beat then became his Angel form and he teleported out of the barrier and stood beside Neku

 

"Beat...Nngh! Why did you--

 

He then pants out of breath as Izawa's energy weakened Neku even more 

 

"Neku!" Beat said urgently "dontchu worry yo, I'mma back you up!"

 

Meanwhile as Neku tried to focus on activating his God form despite feeling weak, Beat cloned himself two times and he blasted Angel energy at all three of the demons and became bolts of lightning as he slammed into each of the demons making them scream in pain making Izawa's true form get launched back from Neku, leaving a copy of his energy to still smother Neku

 

As Neku tried to focus more and more on the transformation, Izawa's energy tried to ensnare Neku in his energy as he tried to make it wrap around Neku's body, which would weaken him to the point he would be easier for Anthony to kill. But as this happened something happened making Izawa’s energy get pushed back.

 

“Now’s my chance!” Neku thought

 

He then opened his eyes became his God form and blasted Izawa with his energy along with Beat and he then held out right his hand and sent Izawa flying with Telekinesis, making him bounce off of all the walls of the room.

 

He then shot his God energy at Izawa and Beat fired Angel energy making him scream in pain

 

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO! THIS WASN’T PART OF THE PLAN! NOOOOO! MY LORD, I’M SO SORRY!”

 

With his final words Izawa then dissolved into orbs that disappeared.  At that moment, Beat then returned to his normal form. Akemi and Hikaru then returned to normal, still hurt from Neku leaving the Demon Realm, but not wanting to kill him

 

Neku then closed his eyes and started to go through his weaker forms starting with his form below his God form: then his Angel form, his Composer form, and Enlighten form before finally going back to himself, nearly collapsing and having to use his right arm as a crutch to keep himself upward.

 

 

"I'm so sorry. I can sense it, Izawa was...you're friend and mentor right?" he said weakly

 

 

Akemi then cried

 

 

"Yes he was" she replies

 

 

Hikaru then closes her eyes and opens them again with her eyes watering

 

 

"it's for real this time. I can't sense him. Sure he did that last time too, but I can really feel it, he's gone" Hikaru said sadly

 

 

 

Neku then placed his hands on his head and concentrated on feeling better, and then stood up normally

 

 

"Believe it or not, I know what that's like too. I have a friend and mentor that got me this far, and he almost died thanks to Anthony" Neku said with his left palm upward and right hand in his pocket

 

"really?" the girls said shocked

 

 

"yeah" Neku said hanging his head with both hands in his pockets

 

 

"I'm sorry, I never meant for you two to feel so hurt. The truth is, I actually wanted to spend more time with you two when I was Damien, but I was so crazy and bloodthirsty back then that I tried to kill my friends. I was always kind and considerate around you two back then because I really did like being around you guys. It wasn't an act of formality. When I was with you both, even if you were just doing your jobs as Maids, I  felt welcomed. You made me feel like it was my cathedral, that l was home. I know what it's like to be hurt by people too"  he admitted

 

 

He then looked up to see the girls look up at him in shock

 

 

Akemi then placed her right left hand on her right arm rubbing it up and down

 

 

"well, while we're admitting things about ourselves. I guess I should confess why it hurt so much that you left without retiring. One, all demons see it as an act of betrayl and...well...the second reason is--

 

Akemi then looked away

 

"I...I sort of have...a-a c-crush on...you" she said weakly

 

"huh?" Neku said in shock while the other friends looked in shock too

 

 

Hikaru then blushed 

 

 

"that tuxedo did make you look very handsome. they say clothes make the man. that...it can just you know, highlight features of a guy's...features" she said shyly

 

 

 Akemi then walked up to Neku and gave him a little kiss on the cheek making him looked shocked 

 

"Goodbye Neku Sakuraba. I guess we should go our separate ways then" Akemi said a little sad

 

Hikaru then  nodded her head

 

"yeah. I guess I'll see you later" Hikaru added

 

"Wait! You could come fight with us!" Eri added

 

"and betray the current Demon Lord? Even if I haven't interacted with him, hardly at all because I needed space to cope, I'm still a maid. I can't just leave him" Akemi said frustrated

 

"Neither of us can" Hikaru said firmly "But--"

 

 

"I guess...I'll think about it" Hikaru added

 

"What?! After centuries of us serving the Lords and Mistresses you'd just betray them?!" Akemi yelled

 

"Wouldn't you? We didn't even know Demons had a past life as a Spirit until meeting Neku's friends. it's something nearly all demons have forgotten. So who knows what else is going on. What if the past Lords and Mistresses were keeping secrets from us too?!" Hikaru said crossing her arms

 

Akemi then hanged her head and thought about what was just said

 

 

"that is a good point, I guess I'll think about it too" she said firmly

 

 

the two girls then waved good bye to Neku and friends and became smoke and dissolved into the air

 

 

The barrier he set up were then lowered and his friends all ran to his aid

 

“Neku!” they all shouted (except for Joshua)

 

His friends then all reached Neku and asked what was wrong with him

 

“Nnngh! Nothing…I’m fine I’m just…tired that’s all” he said weakly

 

Neku then closed his eyes and healed himself with his own energy causing himself to glow with a darkblue aura around him and then opened his eyes making the aura of his energy disappear making Shiki chuckle

 

“You know you’ve gotten pretty good at healing Neku” she said cuddling Mr. Mew

 

“You think so?” he said smiling

 

“Yeah that was amazing Neku, what you did with your God form” Shiki said smiling

 

“You sure you’re okay now? We're lucky Beat was able to buy you enough time to activat your god form" Eri said worried

 

“Yeah Beat really saved my ass...and thanks guys” Neku said sincerely

 

“for what yo?” Beat asked

 

“I could sense how worried you guys were, that you were afraid something would happen to me. I guess in a way…that concern made me want to stay strong…and just…survive” Neku admitted

 

“I’m glad” Rhyme said smiling causing Neku to chuckle

 

“C’mon, let’s end this” Neku said sternly

 

He then walked towards the door that lead to the throne room and couldn’t help but hide his face in his funnel collar and hide his hands in his pockets, becoming extremely pale. Shiki then notices this and walks up to him

 

“Neku? You okay?” she said worried

 

“Yeah…I’ll be fine” he said weakly

 

 

Filled with hesitation Neku knew that he was now about to face the monster that caused him all his suffering

 

 

To be continued…


	17. Save Your Soul

Just trying to imagine all the stress Neku feels, Shiki wished she could console him but she knew that he had all the right to be nervous. After all, this was Neku's last chance to back out, in case something happened.

 

He had a feeling that once he stepped through that door, that there'd be no turning back. As he was about to approach the door, Anthony, knowing his friends would get in the way, then sent a massive blast of wind pulling them away from Neku making him look up from hearing the wind

 

“Neku!” Shiki yelled

 

“NOOOO!” he screeched

 

Neku then ran towards them but they flew away even faster and were sent towards the door that lead to they all entered the cathedral with. With his friends gone all the way to the place they started at Neku hid his face in his funnel collar and hid his hands in his pockets again.

 

“this is…just like last time…with Shades…I was on my own then too” he thought discouraged

 

“Shiki…Beat, Rhyme, Joshua, Mr. H, Eri, Taki…everyone…they all pushed me forward. They’ve all been there for me through good times and bad…and they’ve even risked their lives being there for me…when they didn’t have to. They’re…friends…I guess that’s what being a friend means…to support each other…and be there for each other…they‘ve all done so much for me, but now I'm strong enough on my own, and now…”

 

Neku then squeezed his Angel pin and raised his head and then got in his fighting stance

 

“this is my fight!” he said strongly

 

Anthony then smiled as he watched Neku and decided to release more of his presence, the presence of his true form, but now in Neku’s mind, causing him to no longer need his aura of demon energy and snapped his fingers triggering his presence on Neku.

 

At that moment Neku got out of his fighting stance and felt odd…

 

“my palms” he thought looking down at them “they’re getting sweaty? But…I don’t even have skin to sweat from!”

 

Neku then began feeling chills go down his spine

 

“I…I don’t feel right! Why do I feel so cold?!”

 

His breath then began to get choppy

 

“Stop!” Neku screamed in his head squeezing his hair “STOP! I gotta calm down! I’ve got this! I don’t need to feel so…nervous stop!”

 

“JUST STOP!” Neku yelled out loud

 

He then squeezed his Angel pin

 

“The future begins with you, the future is yours to command…Don’t let fear slow you…I got this far thanks to them. I’m gonna end this guys…so don’t worry” Neku said in his head

 

Neku then ran towards the door and stopped dead in his tracks seeing the doors open for him. Once they opened all the way Neku then walked inside with the doors slamming shut behind him. Anthony then smiled happy to see his prey alone, all vulnerable so he could give Shiki the “Bad news” that Neku no longer exists.

 

“Welcome Neku, I bet his place brings back a lot of memories doesn’t it?” Anthony said darkly

 

Neku then hid his face again

 

“Yeah…unwanted memories…things that I wish I had never done” Neku said weakly

 

“But you know there’s no shame in that Neku. You were an excellent Demon Lord…one of the best. Have you figured it out yet? Why you were able to adapt to Demon energy faster than Angel energy?” Anthony said slyly

 

“I’m not like you guys…I don’t like killing people” Neku said darkly

 

“then why did you attempt to kill Shiki in the UG?” he asked

 

“What?!” Neku said shocked “how do you--

 

“I was watching you Neku… _we_  were watching you. Both my sister and I…all of us were. Demons and Angels like to watch the Reapers' Game to see what will happen to people's mind and souls as they play. Demons and Angels lurk a lot closer than you think, like with Mr. H, for instance. You never knew he was an Angel yet he was there in the UG that whole time overseeing the Game and making sure it's played properly. Even Demons from time to time oversee the Reapers' Game too. The afterlife and the living realm are very close to each other Neku” Anthony said smiling

 

“You want to know why don’t you? Why is it that you were able to use your Demon energy so much easier than your Angel energy? Part of it is because of how you had it a little longer than your Angel energy but there’s another side to it too…something that no one ever told you…

 

“What do you mean?” Neku said responding to Anthony

 

“Your behavior back then, that mental loop you were in of isolating yourself from the world, distorted your mind and soul. While it's okay for one to simply not be very social and prefer to be alone, like the way you were before the Reapers' Game…that distortion, if it wasn’t healed over time…would’ve lead to corruption Neku. Your mind and soul would’ve been so breakable and weak that you could’ve easily been controlled by us Demons. You’re a being of sorrow, no matter what happiness befalls you the pain you felt still lingers”

 

“But that’s part of my past I’m not like that anymore!” Neku roared shaking his fist

 

“heh heh, even so…that impact still lingers Neku. Your soul…that anger and hate you felt back then still lingers inside you and your demon powers feed off of it. We’ve waited a long time you know” the demon explained

 

“Waited? Waited for what?” Neku said curiously

 

“Not what… _who_ ” Anthony corrected

 

As Anthony revealed the truth to Neku his friends desperately tried to go to the throne room

 

“Guys he’s there all alone! We have to hurry! Neku could be in trouble!” Shiki cried

 

“Well c’mon yo!” Beat roared

 

He leaped into the air summoning his skateboard and hopped on it while simultaneously carrying Rhyme. Getting the hint, Shiki threw Mr. mew onto the ground and leaped onto his Panther form with Eri riding him. Joshua then glowed with a light gray aura and flew with his Composer energy.

 

As they all hurried to Neku’s aid they all suddenly stopped filled with shock to see a Lion Noise that was pitch black outlined in a blue gray aura with a touch of purple. The moment their eyes met they all screamed in pain and all fell to the ground nearly collapsing

 

“Nnngh! J-Joshua…what is that?” Shiki said weakly

 

“it’s a Noise…wrapped in energy nearly on par with Anthony…an Alto Noise…they’re a lot stronger than Crescendo Noise since they’re overflowing with Demon energy” Joshua explained

 

“A what?! I don't get this man! What's that name yo?!” Beat shouted

 

“Alto, it's a term in Music, Beat, for the lowest pitch a girl's voice can go to, typically in choirs. These Noise are just as strong as Izawa’s true form…his Staccato form, and before you say anything, a staccato in music is a shortened music note, you don’t hold it out as long. Sort of like having a short pause when you talk. Sounding. Sort. Of. Like. This. Staccato Demons, are right behind Anthony interms of strength” Joshua said in pain

 

Anthony then continued…

 

“Higher Minds are not all that special you see. In fact, they’re born every day. Humans with energy within them that’s more sensitive to ways of expressing one’s self, such as through art, music, or even fashion. Everyone has the potential to be creative though some are more creative than others. Shiki and Eri even had the potential to become Higher Minds, but their energies are almost at that potential. .” he explained

 

Neku then hides his face in his collar with his eyes beneath his bangs and hands in his pockets 

 

"I've always known being a Higher Mind simply was referring to how some people are more creative than others, having a strong imagination. I just never thought it was something that could screw me over...until l met you guys" he said darkly

 

Anthony then chuckled 

 

even so, whether you see it or not, we made you stronger and yours did…by focusing on not letting go of who you are, strengthening your mind and imagination. It was to the point that when you died in Udagawa and entered the Reaper’s Game, that you grew stronger from playing it, enabling you to use a massive variety of pins…even one that Beat needed a Reaper’s imagination to wield”

 

“Rhyme?! You mean her Squirrel Noise pin?” Neku said surprised

 

“Exactly, many humans with powerful energy all entered the afterlife and we would consume them with Demon energy hoping to take over the Higher Plane. We've attempted this many times actually. Although they would become extremely powerful, none of them got as close as we wanted to killing the Higher Plane’s most powerful Angel making it easier for us to conquer it…none except for one person…one boy who nearly succeeded” Anthony said darkly

 

Coming to a realization Neku then gasped knowing what this meant

 

“Me?” he said stunned

 

“Sharp as a tact Neku” Anthony said coyly

 

“But how do you know all of that?!” Neku shouted “You couldn’t possibly have--

 

“Have been there all that time? That was part of our plan Neku…mine and Clarissa’s, We were watching you ever since you entered the Higher Plane”

 

“You were watching me…this whole time?” Neku said weakly

 

“Of course I find creative people like you to be very interesting Neku” Anthony replied

 

“I would watch over her and let her do her own plan, should it somehow fail I would take over. It was an agreement, a team effort if you will. However…my sister Fading wasn’t part of this…so I wanted to get back at the person who caused all of this…Shiki and of course killing your friends is a huge bonus since you would watch them die too. Do you understand now?” Anthony asked

 

“The fact that the Demon energy Cedric placed inside you began to leak out so quickly, the fact that you were nearly unstoppable as a Demon Lord, the fact that you were consumed by it so quickly all points to one thing…have you figured that out Neku?” Anthony said teasingly

 

“Why else would the Higher Ups, Joshua and Mr. H not want you to know about this? Why else would they do everything they can to not let you become a Demon? It’s because that mental loop you were in, preferring to be alone away from the world would've harmed you" he said smiling

 

"If you had never had entered the Reapers’ Game and have your Mind and Soul repaired, if you had kept your mind and energy distorted, it would corrupt you to the point your anger would lash out of control, your sadness and hate would overwhelm your soul breaking it until you did something you regret blinded by hostility….

 

“No…what’re you saying?” Neku said hiding his face “That I…I’m

 

“You were never meant to achieve God Status Neku, you were never meant to become an Angel…your personality back then, the fact that you were so powerful as a Demon Lord all points to one thing… all of it matches us…you have more in common with us. you behave like us. You're meant to be a Demon”

 

“NOOOOO! I’m…I’m not a freak like you guys! I don’t get angry to the point I want to kill someone I’m not like that!” Neku roared looking at Anthony

 

“Oh really? Didn’t Joshua make you angry to the point you were tempted to Erase him in the UG? Those little thoughts…those little urges prove that even right down to your personality…you have more in common with our kind, an Angel would never want to harm others. if anything, Rhyme is more Angel-like, reaching out to others with her kindness trying to help you in the Reapers’ Game” Anthony said smiling at Neku’s shocked face

 

“You are a being of Sorrow Neku, nothing you do can ever change that” he said darkly

 

“I…I’m meant to be a Demon?! That’s why…why they tried so hard to prevent that from happening? So I wouldn’t be strong enough to kill them cause…my soul adapted to that energy faster cause I…I’m like a Demon? I...I'm drawn to anger like one?…but I’m human…or…was one” Neku said filled with heartache squeezing his hair

 

“even so…humans that do awful things…are often times referred to as monsters…just like us. Even if you were a human Neku, your behavior would’ve lead to you being easily corrupted…all of those events were to save you from becoming a monster…a Demon what your true power is” Anthony said darkly

 

Neku then hid his face and hid his hands in his pockets again squeezing his Angel pin and then raised his head remembering something Joshua told him

 

“No! the future begins with me! The future is mine to command! Every action leads to another, altering what life I lead, I don’t have to be anything I don’t want to!” Neku roared shaking his fist

 

Anthony then laughed amused by Neku’s response

 

“and you still think you can kill me?” he asked

 

Neku then got in his fighting stance while generating a goldish white aura around him as he got ready to become his god form

 

“I don’t think l will, I KNOW I will!…I know I’ll kill you…I’ll…end you” Neku said not wanting to use the word kill, not wanting to sound demonic and blood-thirsty

 

“really? Interesting…such ignorance. Well then let’s move on to another topic shall we? Tell me Neku…do you know a lot of music terms?” Anthony said curiously

 

 

Such an odd question then made his god energy aura dissolve and look at his enemy in shock breaking his concentration 

 

 

“huh? I…I know some but not a ton of them, I mean…it’s not like I’m a musician” Neku said crossly crossing his arms feeling defensive

 

“Well then…I’m sure you’ve heard of a Composer, or a Conductor, Maestro and so on…even Demon forms are named after Music terms, like a Virtuoso form…your true Demon form…and the one above that form of power is Izawa's true form, his Staccato form. Then above that is…my ranking, my form…a Smorzando form” Anthony said darkly

 

“Smorzando? I’ve never heard of that” Neku said curious

 

“Well then allow me to show you” Anthony said smiling

 

He then rose from his seat making Neku gasp out of nervousness and he began to tap his right foot mimicking a heartbeat.

 

“A Smorzando is when the music becomes quieter and slower…

 

Anthony then slows down his taps and makes it grow quieter

 

“Until the song itself…

 

He then slows down the taps even more and makes it even softer

 

 

“sounds like it’s slowly going away…the music so to speak…is dying” Anthony said slyly making his foot stop at the word dying

 

 

Neku then felt his eyes widen and chills go down his spine at the very thought of what a Smorzando form could do

 

 

"If you were in the living world, I could apply that same Smorzando to the very music that keeps all living creatures alive" the Demon Lord said with an evil smile

 

 

putting two and two together Neku then looks at him terrified and became extremely pale

 

 

"a...a beat...a heartbeat" he muttered 

 

 

“I can do something similar to spirits and other forms of energy with my form…for instance that nausea you felt, was just a small taste of my Smorzando form. The fear you felt earlier was also triggered by this energy” he said darkly

 

Anthony then closed his eyes and opened them making them become black with red pupiless eyes. The moment Neku looked into them he felt a sharp pain in his head.

 

He began screaming in pain as he felt like his body was being crushed causing him to fall to his knees.

 

Then Anthony created his blueish gray aura causing Neku to scream again making his forehead touch the floor from feeling his entire body be crushed by his weight.

 

“Nnnnnngh! S-Stop!” Neku whimpered

 

Anthony then walked closer causing Neku to feel weak like he was about to pass out

 

“Everything’s getting blurry” he thought

 

Anthony then kneeled down and squeezed the top of Neku’s hair, raising his head so he could look at his fatigued face with Neku’s eyes halfway open.

 

He then went to his true form (looking just like a Staccato demon but with a bluish gray color aura outside of his dark gray body and has pitch black and red eyes) making Neku wail in pain as his Soul began to tear apart exposing his energy however…Neku wasn’t breaking apart as fast as he should be….it was then that Anthony knew what he had to do.

 

He teleported back to his chair and went to his normal form causing Neku to no longer scream in pain…but just pant and lay on the floor from exhaustion. He then whimpered in pain as he got to his feet as much as it hurt him to do so.

 

“there are other things I can do with my Smorzando form too, I can mimic the abilities of other beings…such as Death Gods…and even bring people back from the dead. Care to see an example?” Anthony said smiling

 

He then snapped his fingers recreating a certain person making Neku gasp, startled that this person had returned

 

“Shades?” Neku said shocked

 

The former Conductor then lets out his menacing laugh and lowered his glasses making Neku scream in pain and fell to his knees using his hands to support himself. His eyes had Smorzando energy making them black with red pupiless irises

 

“Nnngh! He has…Smorzando eyes?” Neku said weakly

 

“I’m surprised to see you here without your headphones Neku, do you not like music anymore?” A confused Megumi asked

 

“I…I do…I like music but…I Nnnngh! I don’t use it…to…to push people away anymore!” Neku shouted

 

“Interesting, so tell me…do you honestly believe you can trust people? Even after all the things they’ve done to you?” Megumi asked

 

“Nnngh! Yeah…I do…my partners…they all became my friends…I know they…wouldn’t hurt me…knowing them…they’re sensing that I’m in pain…and are on the way to help me. Thanks to them…I Nnngh…I know not everyone is bad” Neku replied

 

Megumi then laughed and walked closer to Neku making him whimper in pain feeling his head pounding again

 

"Heh, such misguidance! You actually trust people still! Even if you have friends now Neku, the result will be the same...you WILL lose them and you WILL be hurt by their betrayal...humans are awful creatures, always willing to hurt each other at someone else's expense" he said darkly

 

"You know, just now, I was told by Anthony that the imagination andenergy that is within you has caused much misfortune to this world. And now that you're at your weakest, there's no need for you to exist now...is there? after all, a powerful form energy like you is too much of a risk and needs to be destroyed!" he Conductor said smiling

 

"Nnngh! How...How do you know about that?" Neku said weakly

 

"Telepathy of course and with my now demonic eyes sensing all the things that happed up to now, the moment we made eye contact." Megumi added

 

"My...My friends...Nnngh! they...won't leave me" Neku said just barely beyond a whisper

 

“I see…it seems you need to be reformed yet again Neku, your ignorance is making you unable to accept the truth" he said with a dark laugh

 

with Anthony's permission (telepathically again) Megumi generated (his Noise energy)black energy in his right hand outlined in red.

 

"Time be still" he said darkly

 

Megumi then whipped Neku with the energy causing him to feel his eyes begin to burn listening to the Conductor laugh at his pain.

 

"Such a shame...so much power wasted on a little boy" Megumi said smiling

 

he then summoned a pillar of Staccato energy over Neku and held it over his back

 

"Now then...bask in the light of true redemption, and understand the truth!" Megumi roared

 

he then snapped his fingers unfreezing Neku and slammed the energy into Neku's back making his shirt tear open and tear a hole into his back, making him wail in pain with tears streaming down his face wheezing in pain

 

"Nnngh! S-Stop" Neku whispered

 

"Shades" Neku whimpered "I...I know they'll come. it's true...people hurt you but...not everyone is bad...all you have to do...Nnngh! is just...accept them...for who they are. If you want to enjoy life, expand...your world. you gotta push out your horizons as far as they'll go. and...open...up and...let people in...cause then you'll find new ways to be yourself, and new ways to understand others"

 

Megumi then laughed at Neku

 

"such an ignorant little boy! I see...so I’ll back off now…and allow Anthony to make you what you are MEANT to become" he said sinisterly

 

Megumi then teleported back to Anthony and smiled wanting to see the troublesome boy Fade knowing that there's no need for him to exist since he causes nothing but trouble

 

Anthony then snapped his fingers removing the presence of the Smorzando eyes allowing Neku to get up. Once he got to his feet, Anthony froze them in place making Neku unable to move.

 

“It’s time for you to accept your fate Neku…but before that, I’ll first remove a certain distraction from you” Anthony said sinisterly

 

“Distraction? What’re you talking about?” Neku said unsure

 

“Oh come on Neku, you really haven’t noticed? When you fought Izawa and his energy began to be pushed away, or when your demon energy began to spike up, how something made it sort of…stay in place, or when I revealed my Smorzando form to you, how you didn‘t instantly die. Do you see what’s happening Neku?” Anthony said smiling

 

Coming to a realization Neku then gasped

 

“my Angel pin? You mean…it was going that far? It was protecting me this whole time?” Neku said shocked

 

“Of course, now then if you’d be so kind as to give me your pin…

 

Anthony then snapped his fingers freezing Neku’s whole body in place

 

“No…you can’t…don’t get any closer” Neku said nervously

 

“interesting” Megumi thought simply watching the show “this is just like how his 2nd Player pin was protecting him…did the Composer do something to protect this boy?”

 

Anthony (sensing the pin) then reached into Neku’s left pocket and pulled it out

 

“DON’T!” Neku screamed

 

Anthony then crushed it causing the pin to lose its glow

 

“No…now the pin can’t be an amp for my Angel energy…on its own…do I stand a chance against a Smorzando form?” Neku thought disheartened

 

Anthony then walked closer towards Neku and placed his hand on Neku’s forehead

 

“No more games, I’ll kill you here and now. A good plan needs flexibility and although I wanted Shiki to personally watch you die…I suppose showing her a vision of your Soul Obstruction will have to do” he said darkly

 

“But why?!" Neku yelled “Killing me won’t bring your sister back, and making Shiki suffer won’t solve anything either! So WHY?! Why are you willing to go this far if--

 

“It doesn't matter if it doesn't bring my sister back. Your death will bring closure, your death will make me feel better. I owe you no more explanations…only Soul Obstruction” Anthony said darkly

 

Neku then closed his eyes as Anthony exerted more force onto his forehead knowing that he would never see his friends again

 

“Shiki…everyone…I’m sorry” he said weakly

 

A few seconds passed and he then opened his eyes

 

“huh? Nothing happened” he whispered

 

Anthony then sighed

 

“it figures HE wouldn’t let me kill you so easily…alright…time for a different approach” the Demon Lord said confidently

 

Anthony then teleported back to his chair and unfroze Neku (with the exception of his feet so he can’t move, wanting to watch Neku squirm) and fired Smorzando energy at him causing Neku to shield his face forming an “x” with his arms again

 

“No…don’t! I don't want to Fade” Neku thought

 

He then felt the energy blast against his arms

 

“Nnnngh! I’m not gonna let that happen…I’m not weak” he said to himself

 

“I can’t die…if I do, everything they’ve ever done will be for nothing! I’m not weak I…I just have to endure this! It's just like when Clarissa blasted her energy into me.” he thought

 

The Smorzando energy became like a plume of smoke that swirled around Neku beginning to engulf him in the energy, making him feel weak and physically exhausted while at the same time burning him, making Neku whimper in pain.

 

“It hurts!” Neku thought “I…I’m burning! I can‘t…I can‘t take this! But…I have to!”

 

As Neku suffered, his friends were all filled with agony as they tried to kill the Alto Noise, but were all struggling to do so. Its claws felt like machetes as it slashed his friends over and over. They fought hard, determined to save Neku but even as Angels and with Joshua as a Death God they still struggled.

 

The Alto Lion Noise pounced at his friends causing them to all dodge its swipes but it then made clones for each friend to battle

 

They all fired plumes of black smoke at Neku’s friends causing them all to scream in pain and revert to their regular forms, with the exception of Joshua who returned to his human form.

 

They were all covered in scratches and bruises with their clothes torn and they all laid on the floor wheezing in pain. Joshua knew if his human form was slashed by the Lion’s claws that they’d tear all the way to his Composer form…that in other words…he would die.

 

He laid in agony as his eyes were halfway open and merely watched as the Noise crept closer to him

 

“Joshua!” Mr. H said telepathically “remember how you got out of a situation like this before? You gotta try that again, I know that explosion you made took a lot of power out of you, but it might be the only way!”

 

“I know…Mr. H” Joshua said out loud “But…I’m all used up of energy…I…I can’t…fight anymore”

 

Mr. H then generated his Angel wings ready to fight for Joshua but something happened making him degenerate the wings back into his human form

 

As Neku’s friends were about to give up a massive blast of energy blew up the lion Noise

 

“Geez, talk about a boring show” a male voice said

 

“I was watchin’ you stupid zeroes hoping to get entertained” it continued

 

A person then appeared from the shadows frowning at Joshua’s weakened state

 

“But you…you gotta be the most disappointing one here”

 

“Sho?” Joshua said weakly

 

“Bingo” Sho replied smiling at Joshua

 

Beat then looked up at the man and saw that Joshua was right, filled with shock

 

“no way, it's really Pi-Face…he even looks all…tabooy wid all them black markings on him again” Beat thought remarking on Sho’s power

 

“Hey…where’s that Hollow Skulled Hectopascal? I thought he’d be with you? Since the rest of ya are dead too” Sho said remarking on Neku’s absence

 

“Neku is with Anthony right now…I’m guessing he brought you back to kill us right?” Joshua said as he tried to get to his feet

 

Sho then stomped on Joshua’s head making his face lay towards the right causing him to whimper in pain, which made the demonic Sho smile, especially seeing Joshua's clothes torn and cuts all over his body up close

 

“So zetta slow! Of COURSE I’m here to kill all of you YOU ZETTA SONS OF DIGITS! But especially YOU! You’re the stupid zero who crushed me with a vending machine and a car!” Sho shouted with an evil smile

 

“I’ve wanted to get back at you for a long time…I tried to kill you in Udagawa…only to have to go back to the UG. And when l came back even stronger fused with Taboo Noise  to kill you, you crushed me with a freaking vending machine and a car! YOU! You stupid zero of a Composer!" the demonic Sho added

 

Sho then laughed at Joshua’s pain and a blueish gray aura, with some purple went around him making Joshua scream in pain while also getting cuts and bruises on his body from the energy burning him.

 

“I’ll kill you first, and make you ALL DROWN! DROWN IN A SEA OF IMAGINARY NUMBERS! Then FINALLY I can start my NEW equation! I may not be able to be the Composer of Shibuya, but now I can go further beyond and become a Demon!” Sho said manically

 

He then summoned black demon energy in his left hand with the same aura that surrounded him

 

“no…Joshua” Shiki whispered

 

“Stop…” she pleaded

 

Shiki then gathered all the strength left in her and screamed

 

“STOOOOOOOOP!”

 

Before he knew it, Sho was sent back with a blast of sound crashing against a wall, allowing Joshua to get to his feet

 

“Angels are like bombs” Shiki thought as she got up “Light is explosive…it’s energy, like fire and lightning…I have to take advantage of that”

 

She then rose to her feet and became an Angel startling Sho as he got to his feet

 

“She’s really strong, all of them are. They're almost Higher Minds, like that hollow skulled hectopascal” Sho thought

 

Shiki then fired her energy at Sho and simultaneously flew at him. He then shot his energy at her causing it to break and get sent flying back. He then laughed as he summoned clones of himself (one for each of Neku’s friends) and made them all target Shiki as his Lion taboo Noise form

 

The other friends then all got to their feet (as much as they struggled to do so) and all became Angels (allowing Joshua to go to his true form) tackling the Lion Noise as they all viciously slashed Shiki.

 

“YOU AIN’T KILLIN’ SHIKI!” Beat roared as he punched the noise form’s face

 

Rhyme then became a werewolf Noise again and viciously slashed at the lion Noise form and sent it flying back as it crashed onto a wall and then became an Angel that blasted energy at the real Sho causing him to go flying and slashed him from all angles.

 

"We're going to save Neku, and nothing will ever stop US!" she screamed blasting a massive amount of Angel-energy at him making Sho crash against a wall

 

"how is this kid, or any of them, able to become an Angel?! They're almost the real deal! But how's this stupid zero able to do this?!" Sho thought as he got up

 

she then blasted him with Angel energy again making Sho scream in pain. he then got up and saw her try to punch his face with Angel energy around her hands and dodged each blow

 

"even if this kid's good. I've got that Demon energy that makes me multiply to INFINITY! My value is greater than hers!" Sho thought

 

he then grabbed Rhyme's right arm and electrocuted her with Staccato demon energy and sent her flying back to her friends

 

The Composer then floated into the air and summoned orbs the size of boulders down on the Lion Noise making them scream in pain.

 

Regardless of that, one of the lion Noise then pounced at Eri causing her to punch it in the ribs sending it flying causing it to go rolling onto the ground.

 

“We’re not gonna Fade here! we’re gonna save Neku!” Eri shouted

 

The fighting went on and yet even though they were all exhausted, Neku’s friends kept pushing themselves hoping that they could get to Neku in time with his former partners sensing how weak Neku was…they knew that they had to hurry. Time was against them and they knew that Neku was weak to the point it was getting harder to sense his energy.

 

“Neku…” Joshua thought “he doesn’t have much time left. His energy is so weak that I can barely feel his presence anymore”

 

“Please Neku…Please hang on” Shiki thought worried

 

As the valiant friends continued fighting Mr. Mew’s panther form viciously slashed the lion Noise over and over.

 

They all unleashed massive blasts of energy, engulfing the room with their energies hearing the Sho clones scream in pain as they dissolved along with the Lion Noise and even heard the real Sho scream and yet…he was still standing

 

“You stupid zeroes don’t get it yet do you? That kid you’re all trying to save is so weak that he’s about to be consumed by demon energy. It’s over, this fight is as useless as dividing by zero” Sho said happily

 

He then closed his eyes and opened them making them become Smorzando eyes.

 

The moment his eyes met Neku’s friends they all screamed in pain powering down to their normal forms covered in scratches and bruises and felt like they were being crushed causing them to all land on the ground curling into a ball and Mr. Mew powered down to its normal toy form

 

“Neku” Rhyme whimpered

 

 

As Sho saw his wounded enemies on the ground, he then began to walk towards Beat, making Eri and Rhyme look at him scared

 

"Y'know, thanks to my demon powers, the moment I looked at you, I could tell who you were. I saw into your memories just now, and saw that there was someone even dumber than that hollow skulled hectopascal. To think you were a Reaper, just to learn how to make some stupid Noise!" Sho said with a chuckle

 

he then walked closer and grabbed Beat by his neck with his left hand, suspending him in the air and then tore Beat's chest open with a verticle slash to his chest

 

 

"Nooo! leave my brother alone!" Rhyme screamed

 

Sho then began to slide his right hand into Beat's chest, making orbs of his energy leak out

 

"I forgot who he was, l forgot my own brother! It was like l never had one! And I'm not gonna let that happen again!" Rhyme screamed in her head

 

"Beat...no...don't go. I can't lose you too!" Eri thought

 

she then felt her eyes closed as she began to cry and flashed back to when they ate ramen together and went shopping at the 104 building together, and when Beat told Eri that Neku would be sad if he knew Eri wanted to give up on her dream of being a fashion designer, and remembered how all that time, Rhyme was there too to cheer her up

 

"I can't lose them! Either of them! They both have been there for me, and now...I CAN FIGHT ON MY OWN!" Eri screamed in her head

 

at that moment, she opened her eyes and became her Angel form and entered her True Powered form along with Rhyme doing the same. She then became a bolt of lightning that slashed and zig-zagged around Sho multiple times, knocking him away from Beat.

 

As he flew back, Rhyme then unleashed Angel Fire on him making Sho scream. She then made her hands face upward and shot pillars of lightning down on Sho making him fly towards Eri.

 

Eri then returned to her True Powered state and flapped her wings, creating shock waves, knocking Sho even further back. She then roared sounding like a lion as she sent out a massive comet of Angel energy at Sho which created a massive explosion upon making impact with him making the demon version of the Reaper lay on the ground trembling as he struggled to get up. As he did, Eri then powered down to her normal self, being tired from her True Powered Angel form causing her to fall to her knees. 

 

Rhyme then became her True powered form and blasted a massive sun of Angel energy at Sho as he trembled on the ground in pain before she powered down to her normal form too

 

"I get why Rhyme would have my back yo, but why Eri...Why'd you take that risk yo? You coulda gotten killed" Beat said as laid on the floor exhausted

 

panting out of breath, Eri then looked at Beat and then Rhyme

 

 

"I did that...Nngh!...because you and Rhyme are my friends. I guess that...was my way...Nnngh! of saying thanks and...repaying you and Rhyme for...all the things you both did in the RG, when I was sad over Shiki's death. I...wanted to be there...for you too." Eri said smiling

 

Sho then began walking towards Eri, Beat and Rhyme charging Demon lightning in his right hand, ready to kill them, making them gasp in shock, knowing they were now too tired to defend themselves

 

 

“Rrrrgh! Even if I don’t look at those eyes I…still feel the presence” Joshua thought “this is up my alley, I have to kill him now!”

 

 

Joshua then closed his eyes and opened them unleashing his imprint

 

“ **Anguish** ”

 

Sho then began to scream in pain as he felt like wind was slashing his body

 

“ **Agony** ” Joshua thought again as he reverted to his human form

 

Sho then screamed to the point he began to cry

 

Neku’s friends then watched in horror watching Sho suffer

 

“Could Joshua…have done this to us at any time?! Are we this easy for him to kill?!” Eri thought horrified

 

“ **I want you to break** ” Joshua Imprinted once more

 

Sho then felt his human body’s legs break making him unable for him to move and broke his arms and fell laying on his back.

 

Joshua then got to his feet and created the instant kill shot in his right hand and walked up to Sho, who coughed up orbs of demon energy

 

“You…Nnngh…stupid son of a digit” Sho whispered “If…I’m going down…I’m taking you with me”

 

In his last attempt to kill Joshua, Sho fired Staccato energy from his eyes at Joshua’s stomach while he simultaneously fires the instant kill shot making Sho dissolve into orbs the moment it touched him.

 

“JOSHUA!” everyone screamed

 

As tired as they were, all of Neku’s friends ran to the weakened Composer as he fell to his knees clenching his stomach while coughing up orbs from his true form.

 

When they all reached him, Shiki then laid Joshua on his back and placed his hands on his side to see his wound exposing Composer energy

 

“I’ll make you better okay?” Rhyme softly generating Angel energy

 

Joshua then nodded his head. Rhyme then got on her knees and began healing Joshua

 

“They…they care about me…all of them” Joshua thought seeing their worried faces “I thought Neku…only liked me but…they all do…even if it’s awkward for their energies, when they’re around me…they want to be with me…they want to know me. I guess...maybe I should tell them...more”

 

"You know, while you're here, there's something I've meaning to say to you Rhyme." Joshua said weakly

 

"what is it?" Rhyme said curious

 

"I'm...sorry. I'm....sorry for all that I've done to you and Beat" Joshua said while in pain

 

"what do you mean? I know as the Composer you take away entry fees and Beat told me how you had part of Neku's memory inside your head, and how Neku told me how you made Shiki look like Eri...so...what else did you do?" the kind girl asked

 

"I....Nnngh, I could've stopped the car from hitting you two, from it smashing into you" The Composer replied

 

"Whatchu say?" Beat said shocked

 

"What do you mean you could've stopped it? are you saying you got us killed?" Rhyme said hurt

 

"In a way, yeah I did. I have access to...nnngh  my Composer abilities in the RG, and that includes, being able to alter time. I can slow down the movement of something, making its impact not as intense. if...if I really wanted to, I could've slowed down the car" Joshua explained

 

this then made Rhyme and Beat look in shock at Joshua

 

"why are you telling me this?" Rhyme said weakly

 

"it's because...I've fought demons a lot longer than all of you, so I know how dangerous this is, and I know there's a chance we may not survive. So I wanted you both to know...what could've been. How I sort of...interfered with your lives, by allowing you two to get hit by that car" Joshua answered

 

"Yo, Prissy boy, this ain't like you. It don't matter how dangerous this is, I know there's a chance we could die, but that ain't ever stopped us before! and...in a way, I'm kinda glad you got us killed yo. That ticket to the UG is what made me and Rhyme meet Shiki and Neku. We wouldn't be who we are now widout dying that day." Beat said with a smile

 

Joshua then chuckled

 

"so...Nnngh...you guys don't hate me?" he said curious

 

"Of course not" Eri added "Actions speak louder than words, you've been there for us and helped us in the Higher Plane, just like Neku...and if it hadn't been for you, Shiki wouldn't be who she is now. In a way, you taking her entry fee was a good thing. You helped Shiki in a way l just never could Joshua. Thanks"

 

"You're welcome" Joshua replied

 

"maybe, when we save Neku, and this is all over, maybe...we could know each other too" the Composer said quietly, in a tired voice

 

"Joshua?" Shiki said weakly

 

"Is he finally starting to like us?" Shiki thought hopeful

 

"Yo screw all that 'maybe' crap! Even if you don't say it prissy boy, you're my friend!" Beat said with a smile

 

"Beat's right Joshua! You've been there for all of us, so we want to be there for you too" Rhyme said with a giggle

 

Eri then giggled too

 

"Thanks Joshua, for everything" she said sweetly

 

the friends then backed away and allowed Joshua to then get up on his own 

 

Joshua then looked down and smiled

 

"I guess it's settled then...thanks" he said quietly

 

Once Joshua was fully healed Rhyme then generated a dome of Angel energy around them healing the rest of them at the same time.

 

“Whoa…you’re really good wid Angel energy yo” Beat said proud of his sister

 

“There’s no time for that!” Joshua said getting to his feet “We gotta move!”

 

As they ran towards the door that lead to the Demon Lord’s throne room, more Staccato Noise all attacked Neku’s friends

 

As the fight continued, the weak and exhausted Neku then began to scream as he felt a sharp pain, like a knife was cutting him (unaware that the Smorzando energy was doing multiple things to kill him, tearing his body making his energy leak, and spiking up his Demon energy at the same time) the demon smoke coiled around Neku digging into his back and chest as well as digging into his legs burning him, tearing off chunck of his body exposing his energy

 

Amused by Neku’s torment, Anthony then told him what happened to his friends

 

“wonder why it’s taking so long for them to reach you?" the murderous demon asked "That’s because while we were talking, I simultaneously sent Noise with power nearly on par with Smorzando energy in them and killed someone making that person come here to try to kill them. They’ve been fighting them this whole time…odds are that they were all killed in battle”

 

“NOOOOO! I know they….AAAAAAAAAGH! Nnnngh!" Neku screamed

 

overwhelmed with pain, Neku then began to whimper again

 

“They…wouldn’t lose” hesaid quietly

 

 

Taking advantage of how tired he is, Anthony then decided to try to break Neku's mind apart more to make the demon energy overwhelm him faster

 

 

"Do you really think that? Go on then, try to sense the energy of your friends" Anthony said slyly. He snapped his fingers making the Demon Smoke lessen.

 

 

Doing this startles Neku as he feels he can only move his arms but manages to place his hands on his head, closes his eyes and focus on trying to sense his friends' energy only to open his eyes and look at Anthony in shock as tears rolled down his face

 

"No...they...they're not" a heartbroken Neku muttered "it's all over"

 

 

"You see? In the end, when you needed them most, your little friends failed you and let you down. In the end, you'll die alone" Anthony said smiling

 

 

Anthony then snapped his fingers making Neku's demon energy spike up drastically feeding off of his sense of despair making the demon smoke smother him

 

 

He now looked like a full demon with the exception of his hair and bits of his skin and clothes remaining the same.

 

Although his clothes, including his shorts,and shirt were all torn with his energy leaking through the clothing at his left waist and stomach from the demon smoke making him have four holes in the back of his shirt making Neku scream in pain as all the holes were white outlined in darkblue

 

the demon smoke then began to engulf Neku making him scream as it burned him, smothering him within its overwhelming power until Neku's forearms and head (with a little bit of his chest showing the straps of his MP3) remained.

 

It then engulfed the right of his face, head and his arms going up to his hands. the energy then engulfed Neku even more to the point his MP3 disappeared and just his legs (up to his knees) and fingertips showed.

 

"it's all over for me...there's no point...in me...being here...everyone's gone...ev...ery...one.It's...almost over now...the De...mon Smoke is cov...ering...up...my...body." he said tiredly and barely conscious and feeling numb

 

Neku then closed his eyes, waiting for the smoke to completely tear him apart, making it smother him even more until only a little of his left side of his face, bangs and fingers showed

 

"Goodbye mom, goodbye dad...goodbye--

 

at this moment tears streamed down his face

 

"goodbye CAT" 

 

As if his demon energy made his despair a hypnotic trance, the moment Neku said Mr. H's nickname he was snapped out of it and felt pain again

 

 

“It hurts…I…I’m gonna die! I can’t take anymore! I CAN'T! Nnnngh! CAT, where are you?!” Neku cried out

 

As Neku whimpered in pain white energy began to glow around him

 

“I’ve been with you, helping you endure the pain this whole time” Mr. H said telepathically

 

The energy then began to dig holes into Neku’s exposed energy to make him even weaker and whimper in pain and feel so weak that he was about to pass out but it began to get pushed back thanks to Mr. H’s energy being inside of him.

 

Anthony, seeing how Neku’s Angel energy began to spike up protecting him and push back the demon smoke from engulfing him, making Neku become more visible again and looking like himself again minus some bits of gray demon skin on his arms, legs and face. His entire body was showing again but it showed how the demon smoke had been ripping Neku apart

 

The back of his head only showing the tips of his spikey hair and chunks of his entire body to become white outlined in darkblue with barely any demon skin remaining. Neku was his last layer of energy with it beginning to leak through his shirt and shorts

 

“Now…at long last…you’ll finally face Soul Obstruction, Neku Sakuraba…will have never existed” he said just barely beyond a whisper

 

Neku felt his body grow numb and his vision blur. By now, his body was completely engulfed (while surrounded my Mr. H's white aura around the smorzando smoke desperately trying to keep him stable) with only the right of his face and fingertips showing.

 

as a result blue orbs flew to the sky as Neku was about to pass out. As Anthony was about to break Neku apart dissolving him into orbs with a snap of his fingers by sending a jolt of Smorzando energy to him, someone intervened

 

“YO! Ain’t you forgetin’ someone?!” a voice cried out

 

Living up to his nickname Beat broke down the door to the throne room by punching it summoning the strength of his Angel form causing Anthony to become distracted and stop the energy from flowing into Neku making it dissolve into the air

 

“’cause the Freakin’ Rhino’s here and there ain’t no way you’re killin’ Neku!” Beat shouted

 

Neku then looked behind him with eyes widened from being startled by seeing them (with his white aura dissolving)

 

“guys? you're alive?” Neku said filled with disbelief

 

“NEKU!” his friends roared concerned over his condition seeing his eyes halfway open

 

Shiki then summoned her energy ready to tear the demon energy out of him eventhough only bits of Demon Skin showed

 

“Shi...ki…it’s n-not...to...that point...yet…Nnngh! don’t... worry” Neku could barely say as he squeezed his right arm to support himself

 

She then lets her energy dissolve and ran up to him and caught Neku seeing him nearly pass out falling forward with the chunks of his demon skin now gone.

 

"Neku...I'm so sorry" she said sadly

 

She then steadied him by holding his shoulders watching him pant from exhaustion as he squeezed his right arm for support, terrified to see him white outlined in darkblue with the exception of his clothes remaining and hair being the same, though torn.

 

He was so weak that he was leaking dozens of orbs the size of baseballs. as she was about to heal him, she sees energy begin to leak through his head seeing it go through his bright orange hair.

 

making parts of it become white outlined in dark blue, along with his clothes getting a blueish tint to them as energy leaked out of his shirt some more as his energy burned through his clothes with orbs now the size of bowling balls leaking out of him, rapidly tearing apart leaving bearly any cloth left.

 

"No! Neku! please! Please hang on! just a little longer!" Shiki cried out

 

It was then she realized they were just a few seconds away from losing him seeing him close his eyes and let go of his arm. Neku then opens them to look at Shiki seeing the worry written all over her face, looking at her for a few minutes and then passes out letting his head drop with all his clothes completely dissolved.

 

this then made Neku's energy leak even faster with his body being completely white outlined in darkblue with dozens of orbs tearing his limbs apart, a mere few seconds from dissolving. Shiki used her energy to neutralize his demon energy and healed his wounds with her Angel energy making his exposed energy go back inside him and removed his fatigue

 

he then opened his eyes and raise his head to its normal position and Shiki then lets go of him letting him stand up

 

“How could you leave us Neku? We’re your friends remember?” Shiki said sweetly

 

“Yeah, we could sense you were in pain…you really scared us” Eri added

 

“Sorry…and yeah, I know, and that's why I did it. I was going to try to use my God form to kill him and end it all right here, but Anthony attacked be before I had the chance." Neku said weakly while clasping his right shoulder

 

“Well, we appreciate you looking out for us Neku, but we'll never leave you like your old friends did because those people were never really your friends Neku” Eri said smiling

 

“huh?” a confused Neku said

 

“Friends stand by each other and support each other, that’s what a real friend is. Those people never cared about you Neku, but…we do…we want you to be happy, friends help each other” Eri said sweetly

 

“she’s right Neku…that’s why we all fought those Noise as hard as we could to find you” Rhyme added

 

 

“They have a good point Neku” Joshua added “there have been countless times where Mr. H saved me when I was in danger. When people have something precious to them, they'll do anything they can to protect what matters”

 

“Yo man don’tchu get it? We ain’t like them punks you met Phones! We ain’t gonna leave you hangin’ when you need help! So trust that yo! We’re friends Neku an’ that ain’t ever gonna change!” Beat roared

 

Neku then looked at his friends and smiled

 

"You know how much worse than fighting Shades this is gonna be?" Neku asked with his left palm upward and right hand on his pocket

 

 

“Hells yeah! That’s why we’re all here yo! There’s no way we’d just sit back and let you suffer man! So come on yo, let’s start it up!” Beat said strongly

 

“Beat” Neku said hiding his face

 

“Neku” Shiki said causing Neku to raise his head and look at her “We’re with you…and we’ll see this through until the end…and that’s a promise”

 

“Thanks…guys” Neku said weakly

 

“Well then, let’s show Anthony what we can do, shall we Neku?” Joshua said smugly

 

Neku then got in his fighting stance

 

“Yeah…I’m with you too!” Neku roared

 

He then looked towards Anthony

 

“C‘mon, let‘s get this started!”

 


	18. Taking Control

Anthony merely smiled as Neku and all of his friends glared at him. He was filled with excitement knowing he could take care of all of his problems at once. Although they were unaware of it, in an attempt to be there for their friend, Neku’s friends made it all the more easy for Anthony to kill them by coming to him having them right where he wants them.

 

His friends all looked in shock to see Megumi there, they never thought they'd ever see him again. The Conductor looks at Neku and friends and back to Joshua

 

"So, with these former Players in the Afterlife, I take it that you did as planned?" Megumi asked hoping he was wrong

 

Joshua then chuckled with his hands in his back pockets

 

"Actually no, Shibuya was spared. The former Players you see from my most recent Reapers' Game are Spirits due to demons hunting Neku." The Composer replied

 

Megumi then smiled

 

 

"I am relieved that you reconsidered but now...I have my own plans to attend to. After all, with the Reapers' Game being over, I technically don't have to take your orders anymore. Farewell, and thank you for allowing the streets I know and love to remain" The Conductor said with a sly grin

 

He then teleports away, now more determined to initiate his own plan

 

“So you really think that you’ll win Neku? Even after learning how close you are to my kind? Even if you have total control over your demon energy and demon form, that can all be taken away” Anthony said darkly

 

“Close to my kind? Neku what does he mean by that?” Shiki said concerned

 

Neku then hid his face in his funnel collar and his hands in his pockets

 

“remember when my Demon energy leaked out for the first time? That I punched Joshua in the face, you know…when you first came here?” Neku asked

 

“Yeah I remember” Shiki replied

 

“Everything that the demon energy has done to me all had a reason for reacting that way. Anthony told me something that the Higher Ups, Joshua and even Mr. H all kept from me” Neku said weakly

 

“What?! Neku you can’t believe it! You know he was messing with you!” Eri shouted

 

“Yeah!” Rhyme added “You know who you are Neku, don’t let Anthony confuse you! You know by now that Demons like to hurt people!”

 

“Don’ you go there man! You know better than that yo! He ain’t sayin’ the truth yo! He’s messin’ wid you man he’s--

 

“he’s right” Neku said darkly

 

“Neku!” Shiki shouted

 

“It’s okay guys…really. I understand now…and I see why Joshua, Mr. H and the Higher Ups all kept this secret from me…it’s not common for a person with my imagination to become Demons as strong as me, that’s why they did everything they could to prevent it from happening but…they couldn’t stop me from becoming what I’m MEANT to be” Neku said sadly

 

“It’s just like what Mr. H said to me when I first came here, back when he warned me about Soul Obstruction. He said a good portion of Demons are human souls broken beyond repair…like I was back when I was a Demon Lord. Don’t you guys get it? Even if not ALL of them are like that, a big percent of them are…they ARE us. Demons are ultimately what becomes of someone when they’re trapped in their sadness, hate, or anger. Doesn’t that sound familiar?” Neku said flashing back to the UG

 

“that’s me, before I knew you guys. My mind was so messed up from people hurting me that I found comfort in my loneliness, I WANTED to be alone…away from everyone, I found peace being that way…

 

“and you did too, didn’t you Joshua?” Neku said telepathically

 

“but it’s because of me being that way that life just passed me by and I never really enjoyed life the way I could’ve. Even if all of you in the UG helped me let go of those memories, to let go of my past, its impact is still there…demons…are beings of Sorrow…just like…me. Even if I’m happy with you guys, being like CAT by ‘Doing what I want, how I want, when I want’ living up to that slogan, to live a life of freedom and happiness, I still have thoughts and…memories that hurt me” Neku concluded

 

“I’m…a being of sorrow, I’m not able to escape that fact”

 

“Neku” Shiki said sweetly “I don’t care about that…none of us do”

 

“What? Why not? Doesn‘t that bother you?” Neku said confused

 

“no…why should it? If you’re a being of sorrow then…we’ll all be there to help you cope with that sadness” Shiki said smiling

 

Neku then raised his head and smiled at her

 

“You’re not a being of sorrow Neku” Joshua said making him look at him “I saw you back when you were with your friends for the first time in the RG and you were happy, smiling, and laughing. The only reason you’ve felt so stressed here is because whenever you tried to live up to CAT’s slogan of ‘Doing What you Want, How you want, When you want’ someone would try to hurt you and your Demon energy would boost your negative thoughts and emotions. Once this is over, you’ll feel like yourself again”

 

Neku then smiled at Joshua knowing what he said was true

 

“you’re right…Joshua. I know who I am…thanks for the reminder” Neku said sincerely

 

Neku and his friends then all glared at Anthony as he spoke to them

 

“You know if I had any humanity in me I would’ve found that little moment rather touching” Anthony said in a sarcastic tone

 

He then rose from his feet causing Neku to blink making his irises become gold and pupiless.

 

“Careful, we wouldn’t want your friends to feel that presence Neku” he said slyly

 

“Rrrgh! Shut up, I’m done listening to you! And I’m done living my afterlife this way! I’m gonna do what I want, how I want and when I want! And you know what I want NOW?! I WANT to make you Fade!” Neku roared

 

In the blink of an eye Neku teleported to Anthony and simultaneously jabbed at him with his energy around his fists and feet ten times with the demon dodging every blow.

 

Neku then combined a fury of punches and kicks making him pull off combos effortlessly, as if he was using one of his J of M pins for physical attacks

 

His friends then became Angels and Joshua in his true form and flew to the Demon Lord ready to support Neku. Anthony attempted to slash Neku in the face multiple times only to have Neku effortlessly dodge all the attacks.

 

 

Anthony then punched Neku in the stomach and then in the face sending him hurdling towards the left and then fired his energy at Neku’s friends. They then all dodged the blasts causing Anthony to snap his fingers causing them all to scream in pain as they fell to the ground reverting back to their normal forms. He then held out his hand freezing them all in place except for Joshua who teleported towards Neku as he fell down in his human form.

 

Neku then got to his feet only to feel a sharp pain in his head making him squeeze his hair again as he saw another vision, showing himself in his Mr. H inspired clothes screaming as he then snapped his fingers and became Damien

 

“Nnngh! That was…me? But that‘s not supposed to happen!” Neku said in pain

 

Anthony merely smiled and blinked creating his Smorzando eyes again causing Neku to scream as he felt his demon energy spike up at a rapid pace, burning him. His pain was so intense that he not only whimpered in pain, but his legs began to give out on him making them tremble. The moment the demon energy activated he fell to his knees it started Neku’s third demon form’s transformation.

 

“No! I don’t want to go back!” Neku roared

 

“I’ll try to make it stop” Joshua shouted

 

He then summoned Composer energy in his hands and placed then on Neku’s shoulders only to scream in pain and immediately remove his hands feeling like they were burned

 

“I can’t even touch the energy?!” Joshua thought

 

As Neku was overwhelmed with pain squeezing his hair as he felt it worsen, Joshua saw the black fire of Neku's third demon transformation appear knowing that he was running out of time to help Neku.

 

He was about to try to heal Neku again but at that moment he saw Neku's demon energy go back inside him causing it to activate his full demon form wearing his Mr. H resembling clothes.

 

Anthony then snapped his fingers causing Neku to scream in pain as his demon energy spiked up hurting him, making it blast out of him like fire as it started to reach for the ceiling as the energy began to engulf his body making it burn him. The pain had stopped causing Neku to no longer scream.

 

Neku then laid on his hands and knees and panted out of breath.

 

"I don't get it...I was able to push back my Demon energy before in the Angels' Game! Why is it harder to do that now?!" he said confused

 

Anthony then chuckled

 

"That's because the Player Seal weakens the energy within a Spirit in addition to locking them away. You're not as strong as you think you are Neku. You're helpless and weak." he said smugly

 

 

"Rrrgh! Shut up! Even if part of that was the seal, I pushed the energy back! I DID THAT on my own!" Neku said defiantly  

 

 

as he laid there he then felt a jolt of pain in his head from the Demon energy spiking up even more

 

 

"Nnnnnnngh!" he screamed in pain

 

 

"NO! Not again! Nnngh! Get out! GET OUT OF MY HEAAAAD!"  he screamed

 

 

Despite how he trembled in pain, he raised his left hand, closed the gap in his fingers and then stabbed himself in the head

 

 

"NEKU!" his friends screamed

 

 

His left hand then trembled in pain and he pulled out a chunk of Demon energy from his head opened his left hand and then crushed it

 

 

"Even if it was just a chunk of it, it should...Nnngh! help lessen the strength of the corruption" he said weakly

 

 

he felt his left and drop and then another headache letting out another grunt of pain

 

"Nngh!"

 

 

He then opens his eyes to see he's no longer in his former throne room and is surrounded by red fog making Neku gasp out of shock

 

 

"Huh? Where am I? Is this some other part of the demon realm?" Neku wondered

 

 

he then looks down at his hands to see he had his normal skin tone again

 

 

"The Demon energy was neutralized?" Neku thought confused

 

 

"No, not really" a male scratchy voice said

 

Neku then gasped feeling nervous by this unknown voice and looked towards the direction of where he heard it, looking ahead of himself. He then sees a gray blur in the distance approach him only to vanish and then see the gray mist infront of him and materialize into a man with an opposing figure. 

 

Neku sees a man with an opposing figure, at 7'8 with long dark hair down his back and wearing a blueish gray trench coat with a red trim on the sleeves, and a long piece of cloth, like a curtain, overlapping his chest outlining his shoulders in black with gray straps on them. The man also had a dark gray shirt underneath and black pants and matching shoes

 

 

Although he doesn't know or understand why, Neku can't help but feel a sense of dread standing so close to the man. This made Neku look at him in shock as he began to back away, unaware that that was the presence of the man's demon energy

 

"Come now, there's no need for alarm, we're just talking. However, Based off of your reaction, I can see that you know deep down who I am. I'll now clarify the situation here. This is actually a mental space, similar to when Shiki entered yours to save you. Unlike that one, this mental space is one that only truly powerful Demons ever see." The mysterious man explained

 

Neku then notices the man has his left hand on his chest and right hand behind his back

 

"A mental space that only really powerful demons see? Then...what's happening to me? has the energy gotten stronger to the point I've gone up a rank? and that stance and the way he talks" he thought "that's...the same sort thing I'd do when I was Damien! Am I...am I...somehow...connected to this guy?!"

 

 

"Your thoughts are the truth although not completely accurate" The demon answered

 

he then chuckled at Neku's confusion as he sees Neku no longer backing away but rather frozen in shock

 

 

"Although I am an illusion from your now amplified Demon energy, I am an exact copy, to the point l basically am real while in this mindscape. When a Demon becomes truly powerful and learns more about their powers, they sometimes form a connection to me. That is what happened to you just now." The man explained

 

"While as the Demon Lord you still had your own personality and preferences for fighting, you, through sheer coincidence, had some traits in common with me. It's like when different people have similar interests. I am one of the most powerful Demons of all time. I...am Demon Lord Kurushii" Kurushii announced

 

Neku then feels a headache and grunts causing him to open his eyes again

 

"Kurushii?" he said weakly

 

Neku then gasps and looks at his hands to see his Demon skin again but while wearing his Mr. H inspired clothes

 

 

"Congratulations Neku Sakuraba, you are now even closer to my power." Kurushii said slyly

 

"What?!" Neku screeched

 

Kurushii then closes his eyes and opens them revealing pitch black eyes with blood red irises, revealing a small bit of his power, making Neku scream in pain as he squeezes his hair only to then pant and feel dizzy. He then opens his eyes again to see he's wearing his Demon Lord tuxedo.

 

"No! I...I'm not gonna be the Demon Lord again! I'm not a murderous freak like you!" Neku yelled shaking his fist

 

that act of defiance and confidence made him revert to his normal state and got in his fighting stance

 

 

"The world ends with you! for me to learn how to enjoy life, I had to expand my world! Thanks to them, I already have, and now, I'll push out my horizons even FURTHER so you Demons will never mess with me again!" Neku roared

 

Kurushii merely smiled and laughed at Neku's attempt at being brave and sees Neku run towards him and leap towards him ready to punch him with Angel energy surrounding his hands only for Kurushii to disappear (making Neku unaware of how fast Kurushii really was, that he couldn't even see him) and feel  shockwave blast into him

 

 

As Neku slammed onto the ground landing on his right, he opens his eyes and sees his foe reach his hand out to grab him and teleported away from him. He then recreates his dash psyche to get a safe distance and blasted a beam of Angel lighting at Kurushii.

 

 

He then teleports behind Neku causing him to instantly turn around and slash angel energy at Kurushii, making the Demon Lord dodge every slash move so fast he became a blur before disappearing again making Neku stand in shock. He then appeared in front of Neku and activate his true demon eyes again making Neku instantly drop to his hands and knees and then laid on the ground

 

"This guy...he...almost knocked me out...without even touching me. He's so fast...he'd kill me before...l could even use my god form. I'd...be screwed" Neku thought barely conscious 

 

He then feels himself get raised into the air as Kurushii's hand burned him squeezing his neck as it was being burned and crushed by demon energy making Neku whimper in pain making Kurushii chuckle 

 

"That's what l like to hear, show me your anguish" he said slyly

 

 

"Usually when a Demon's energy strengthens to the point of seeing me, they're more respectful towards me. A poor decision on your part. One that you will regret." The Demon Lord  said with an evil smile

 

 

Kurushii then leaned closer to Neku to the point his icy cold breath stung Neku's neck

 

 

"If I truly existed again, I'd make your death slow and agonizing due to your disrespect.All this time l was merely playing with you. Little Fledgling, little child, do you truly understand?"  He said slyly

 

 

 

 

"You don't have a choice anymore" he whispered stinging Neku's neck even more

 

 

 

Kurushii then raised Neku high into the air as he electrocuted Neku with Demon energy making Neku scream in pain to the point of crying before he passed out with everything fading to black

 

 

 

He then opens his eyes and sees he's returned to the throne room and smiled wearing an evil grin letting out a sinister little chuckle and then snapped his fingers wearing his tuxedo again startling everyone

 

“No…” Shiki thought “I told him…I wouldn’t let him go back”

 

Damien then ignored Joshua, generated an apple in his right hand looked towards it then, closed his eyes

 

“Ah, sweet bliss. I’ve waited a rather long time for our little reunion" Damien said darkly

 

 

He then bit the apple with his shark teeth, chewed it up and swallowed followed by facing Shiki, tossing the apple behind him for Anthony to munch on

 

 

"we never got to finish that little dance of ours did we Shiki?” he said slyly

 

Joshua then teleported in front of him generating his energy in his hands

 

“Don’t even think about it” Joshua yelled

 

The ex-Demon Lord then scoffed and held out his hand revealing his energy

 

“No…Anthony really did that?” Joshua said startled by its color

 

“Exactly now…I’m at the power of a Staccato Form” he said darkly

 

Joshua then went full blast and fired a beam of energy at Damien only to have him redirect the energy at him, causing Joshua to go crashing against a wall, and land on the floor frozen in place. Damien then held his hand out behind him, looked at Joshua and then snapped his fingers reverting him to his human form.

 

Damien then teleported to Shiki and unfroze her, holding her hand, making her become a person again instead of a ghost.

 

“if you thought Clarissa’s grip on Neku was strong, Anthony’s is even stronger” he said smiling

 

Shiki then blinked causing her to have Angel eyes

 

“Shut up! I told Neku I’d get him out and--

 

Before she could finish, Damien then pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around Shiki's waist holding her close. It was almost like they were hugging, making her speechless.

 

He then removed his right hand from her waist and gently pressed his fingertips of his pointer and middle finger against her cheek, followed by placing his hand on her waist again

 

 

"Wh-What's he doing?" Shiki thought flustered

 

 

After doing this, Shiki then felt their chests rested against each other causing Shiki to hold onto Neku's demon form's shoulders, making her blush. Damien then rested his forehead against hers smiling at her, he then moved his head away from her and looked into her eyes for a few seconds.

 

"Neku...please...don't do this" Shiki said weakly

 

He then looked at Shiki smiling and gently kissed Shiki's lips making her look at him in shock as their faces pulled away from each other with Damien wearing a smug smile.

 

 

they then looked at each other for a few seconds, making Shiki even more flustered and he then pulled her close again and kissed her on the lips causing her to scream as she felt like she was being electrocuted and burned at the same time. He then lets go of her seeing her irises become red and pupiless, while simultaneously growing demon skin

 

“NO! SHIKI!” Eri yelled

 

She then looked down at her hands in shock

 

“I…I’m a…Demon?” Shiki said weakly “But…I thought only Higher Minds could store multiple energies within them and not Fade”

 

“that’s correct Shiki, however, you’ve been around demon energy long enough to understand how it works, allowing it not to consume you. You've been exposed to the energy many times. Every time you were shot with the energy, you felt its presence allowing you to adjust to the demon energy. On top of that, you and your friends are almost at his level of power, just a hair away.” Damien said darkly

 

“W-What?! me and the others, we're almost at his level? A Higher Mind? if that’s true then…I’ll use this power to break Neku out of there again!” she said fiercely

 

Shiki then placed her hand on Damien’s forehead and closed her eyes, simultaneously freezing Damien in place, once she opened them she saw that she was standing outside of Neku’s bedroom again but no longer in her demon form

 

“Don’t worry Neku…I’ll get you out, and this time, I’ll remove all your demon energy” she said firmly

 

She then placed her hand on the doorknob and began to scream as she felt it shock her making her instantly let go. On the other side of the door, Neku laid unconscious  and opened his eyes. 

 

"Nngh! am I trapped in my head again? Is it really true? My demon energy went up a rank? And that guy...he's apart of me? Now...I'm almost as strong as him?" Neku mumbled with his eyes halfway open

 

 

just when he was about to pass out again, a certain noise startled him awake as he heard her screams from her trying again

 

“SHIKI!” he roared “You gotta get out of here before he traps you in here too!”

 

“No! I said I wouldn’t abandon you remember?!” Shiki yelled

 

even though she tried to hang on, since Damien was stronger than her she was sent flying back

 

"NEKU!" Shiki screamed

As she flew back, Shiki closed and then opened her eyes returning to the throne room back in her normal state)

 

“Neku” she said weakly

 

Joshua then closed his eyes unfreezing himself and ran to Shiki

 

“You couldn’t get him out?!” Joshua said urgently

 

“No…Anthony’s grip is too strong…I couldn’t do it” Shiki said sadly

 

Joshua then placed his hands in his back pockets and remembered that sentence again

 

_“you’re like a friend to me”_

 

Anthony, seeing Joshua so deep in thought smiled

 

“How odd, you actually care about your Proxy? They’re nothing more than pawns for the Composer you know, even if they surpass you in power, like this little boy has, he’s just a human soul”

 

Joshua then hid all emotion and pulled back his hair laughing

 

“Regardless of that little statement, it’s not like I can just let my Proxy suffer”

 

“Joshua?” Shiki thought

 

He then placed his hand on Damien’s forehead and closed his eyes. Taking this moment to recover his strength, Anthony sat back and wanted to watch them fail as all Neku’s little friends attempt to save him

 

“if Shiki can’t reach Neku, maybe I can. After all, he said that I was the first friend he could relate to” Joshua thought

 

He then opened his eyes and saw Shibuya in Neku’s mind, he then teleported himself to Neku’s apartment and went to his bedroom door. The moment he did this Neku felt his presence

 

“Joshua? He’s here? But…no…he doesn’t really…does he? But he said I’m LIKE a friend to him. Dammit I just…don’t get it” Neku thought

 

Joshua then placed his hand on the doorknob and grunted as he felt a shock (similar to a static shock)

 

“Joshua!” Neku yelled “You gotta get out of here! Hurry! If you don’t you’ll be stuck here!”

 

Seeing how Neku felt overwhelmed to the point of giving up, he then decided to Imprint on Neku

 

“Neku?” Joshua said curiously “ **Are you**  really **giving up?**  Even after  **you went through so much to get where you are now? Are you really just going to throw that all away?** ”

 

Neku then hanged his head

 

“Joshua...I'm  trapped. I can’t get out of here. The plan was for me to achieve God status and beat Anthony, but look at what he’s done! I’m screwed! I can’t even move Josh! He’s got me wrapped in chains….and it's squeezing me…

 

Neku’s voice then lowered to that of a mumble almost like he couldn’t bring himself to say the rest to Joshua, like it was hurting him to say it.

 

“You have to Joshua…just…just leave” he said weakly “No one can help me now…now I’m just…alone again…It’ll only hurt more if you stay, just go…

 

Neku then couldn’t help but feel his eyes water as he flashed back to his old so-called friends all abandoning him too

 

“leave me” he said with teardrops falling from his face

 

“Give up on yourself, and you give up on the world. You’re not turning into a quitter on me now, are you Neku?” Joshua asked making Neku look up gasping in shock

 

“Huh? Why didn’t you--

 

“Because Neku, I know you’re better than this and I know you’re just overwhelmed by Demon energy. The Neku I know wouldn’t give up like this” Joshua insisted

 

“Joshua…thanks” Neku said weakly

 

Although they weren’t aware of it, that act of gratitude towards Joshua made his mind a little easier to access causing the doorknob to no longer burn

 

Joshua then tried to open the door again but this time was able to walk into Neku’s room seeing how it was night time and saw Neku wrapped in black demon energy chains with a purple-blue aura digging into him

 

The Composer then couldn’t help but smile knowing what that meant and chuckled

 

“Well this explains why you can’t even get out Neku, the Staccato energy is hurting you” Joshua explained with his hand on his chin

 

“What? Wait...that's right. My mind was in some higher state of being, that mindscape that only high ranked Demons access and l saw Demon Lord Kurushii--"

 

"Nngh!" Neku grunted

 

 

Joshua noticed the moment Neku mentioned that name, that Neku's demon energy that is digging into his body began to dance like a wildfire making Neku scream in pain, but then went back to normal thanks to Joshua's presence

 

"You okay Neku?" Joshua asked noticing Neku panting 

 

 

"Yeah...just a little dizzy...he's the one my demon energy is connected to" Neku replied 

 

 "Now that it's  stronger, how am I suppose to leave?” he said curiously 

 

Joshua then sat down next to Neku on the floor smiling a little from Neku wanting to leave, not feeling hopeless anymore

 

“that is the question, isn’t it? I’m not so sure either…but this has never stopped you before you know. In fact, this reminds me of the Reapers’ Game to a certain point. Back then you were trapped, forced into a situation you didn’t want to be in…and yet, you not only endured Neku, but you were also able to overcome whatever was thrown at you." Joshua said wisely

 

Neku then looked at Joshua in shock

 

“You’re not weak Neku, this is YOUR mind, YOUR Soul. If anything, you thinking quickly and removing some Demon energy from your head helped you. It actually did lessen how intense the corruption is. Although it is still stronger than when Clarissa controlled you. That's why I, a Composer had to free you vs Shiki in her spirit form." Joshua added

 

"In addition to that, Anthony just sort of helped you, he made your demon form even stronger, but that energy is now hurting you which is why those chains are wrapped around you. It's your Staccato Energy so to speak, like it's trying to keep you here…

 

Joshua’s smile then vanished and he became a little empathetic towards Neku

 

“I…just don’t get it Joshua…you didn’t have to do this. You’ve saved me before but, all of that was optional. You said it yourself, that I’m LIKE a friend to you…even though I see it differently, you still try to help me…WHY?! IS IT CAUSE YOU LIKE SEEING ME FEEL LIKE CRAP?! WHY DO YOU ACT LIKE AN ASS ONE MINUTE AND--

 

Neku then took a deep breath and calmed down

 

“And give me advice the next, as if you…care? You didn’t have to come here Joshua…I…I wanna get out but I can’t. so…why do you want to help me?” he said weakly

 

“Because Neku…I knew that you needed to get out of here…and…if Shiki couldn’t get you out then…maybe I could. Only when we reach our lowest point, do we see how strong we truly are”

 

“huh? What do you mean?” Neku said weakly

 

Joshua then chuckled

 

“I mean that that’s what helped you beat my Game. Whenever you felt like giving up, you used your determination, and will to want to win, to want to live to beat it. You struggled, you suffered, there were times in the Game where you were nearly killed by Noise and Reapers, and were nearly killed by the Dragon Noise, created by Megumi merging with my power. Yet, through all those times when things seemed bleak, that you were about to die, you always found a way out. My Game not only healed your mind and soul, but it also healed you, it made you happier. It allowed you to grow stronger...

 

Joshua then turned towards Neku sitting crosslegged and placed his left hand on the chains of Staccato energy focusing his energy on it

 

 

“All you needed, was that one little push” Joshua said pushing the chains on Neku’s chest

 

Although it stung him, the burn lessened causing the demon chains to fall off of Neku and break apart and demon energy digging into Neku's body to dissolve 

 

“Joshua?” Neku thought confused

 

“C’mon, let’s show Anthony what a Death God and Limitless God can do” he said standing up

 

“Yeah” Neku said smiling

 

He then stood up and the two friends walked out of the bedroom causing Joshua to open his eyes seeing Damien open his eyes too snarling, he then turned behind him and snapped his fingers returning to his usual Mr. H resembling clothes.

 

“Well that was a nice distraction. I see you got to enter the Demon mental space, that only happens when Demon energy reaches the highest rankings. Anyway, now that that little break got me fully charged, let’s try this again shall we Neku?” Anthony said slyly

 

“You…you did that….just to screw with my head?…you…

 

Neku then glared at Anthony snarling and yelled 

 

“DAMN IT! YOU FREAAAAK!”

 

As he then began charging towards Anthony, he sees him snap his fingers, freezing Neku in place giving him a headache changing him back to his normal form. Anthony then walks towards Neku and places his left hand on Neku's forehead and his right hand on his forehead making Neku get another headache.

 

"I've tried to kill you many times and in many different ways. From trying to beat you to death, to using the strength of your friends against you, to draining your soul by ambushing you with Soul Stealers, and yet...they all failed. So, with your help and your connection, the link we both share, I'm going to bring someone back to help me kill you" Anthony said slyly

 

Hearing this, Joshua concentrated as hard as he could to escape, along with the rest of Neku's friends but felt a heaviness to them, like they couldn't move, making it a lot harder for them to unfreeze themselves. At that moment they see a dark gray mist form a 7'8 tall man being Kurushii, making Anthony take his hand off of his head and his other hand off of Neku.  He then looks around the throne room and looks down and his hands 

 

"This is...my old throne room. It seems I have been revived" Kurushii says slyly he then turns towards Anthony

 

 

"You?!" Neku thought shocked

 

 

"yes, I used the link that I and that boy over there have to your power to revive you to help me with something." Anthony answered

 

Kurushii then looked at Neku, making Neku's eyes glow red causing Kurushii to instantly know everything he and his friends have done to the demons, making Neku get another headache and squeeze his hair in pain

 

"I see, it seems this little child is a boy with High Imagination Levels, or a Higher Mind. Interesting. It also seems Neku Sakuraba and his friends have done horrible things to our kind. From his friends killing the security of the Demon Lord or Mistress, to that girl, Shiki, killing Clarissa, making you feel the pain of losing your family. To Neku attempting to harm his maids upon his return here, and him and his friend Beat killing my Watchman Izawa, abandoning the demon realm without properly retiring his rank as the Demon Lord, and worst of all, disrespecting me in the Demon Mindscape. These actions cannot go unpunished. They shall suffer for nearly destroying the order of our realm and killing my people." Kurushii said in a sinister voice

 

Anthony then bowed to Kurushii

 

 

"It is an honor to fight alongside you lord Kurushii" he said respectfully

 

 

Remembering how his Angel energy didn't have much of an effect on Kurushii in the demon mindscape, Neku then became his Demon form wearing his Mr. H inspired clothes. Anthony then charged towards Neku only to see his target teleport away from him. The demon then stood in place and suddenly felt a slash of wind on his right arm, he then felt another one but on his left arm. The slashes then came numerous times causing Anthony to flinch until a black blur appeared sliding away from him. The blur then dissolved revealing Neku.

 

 

At that moment, Kurushii then snapped his fingers making Neku scream and squeeze his hair, returning to his normal state

 

 

"Wha...what did you do?" Neku said weakly as he panted out breath

 

 

"I merely powered you down, that's all. A weak little child like you doesn't deserve to be connected to me. You were once a great and mighty Demon Lord, and yet you threw all of that away. I'm going to make sure you know your place little fledgling" Kurushii said with his evil smile

 

 

Neku then snarled in frustration

 

 

"Do whatever you want! I don't care that you're some sort of Demon Lord of legend, I'm not letting you kill me!" he roared shaking his fist

 

 

Neku then placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes, and thought about Mr. H and how he's an Angel who's fought many demons

 

 

"Mr. H was able to kill them with his Angel energy, so...even if I wasn't able to really hurt him in that Demon Mindscape with my Angel Energy, there has to be a way to do it. I'm gonna try that again. Trust the Angel energy, not the Demon energy. I never wanted that energy to begin with. I don't want to rely on it!" Neku screamed in his head

 

 

he then opened his eyes and glowed with a white aura and fired Angel energy at both Kurushii and Anthony causing them to disappear. He then sees Anthony slash towards him seven times making Neku dodge each swipe. He then grabs Anthony's right hand and blasts Angel energy into Anthony making him go flying back with some Demon energy leaking out of him.

 

 

He then feels someone behind him and turns around instantly firing Angel fire at Kurushii making him simply slow down the energy beam with his left hand and then fired his Demon energy at Neku. Neku then makes a dome of Angel-energy around him trying to block it but lets out whimpers of pain noticing it hurt just to block Kurushii's energy.

 

 

He then extends his hand out making the Angel energy blast Kurushi's energy away and blasts Kurushii back. Neku then teleports to Kurushii in the air and fried another beam of Angel-energy at him. Kurushi disappeared and became a shockwave that hit Neku at his right making him slam onto the ground. He then manages to get up, only to feel Kurushii choke Neku, as he raised Neku into the air electrocuting him with his demon energy making Kurushii laugh at his pain pulling him inches from his face

 

 

"Do you understand now Neku Sakuraba? Even if you have a strong imagination, that means nothing compared to me." Kurushii said with his cold breath stinging Neku's face before slamming him to the ground.

 

 

Neku gets back up, this time trembling in pain and holding onto his left arm for support. At that moment Kurushii revealed his blood red eyes, making Neku scream in pain squeezing his hair before he lands face first on the floor nearly passed out. He then closes his eyes and focuses on his Angel energy again and was determined not to die and became his Angel form's True Powered State and unleashed an explosion blasting Kurushii and Anthony away from him and looked towards his friends noticing white energy around them, at that moment Joshua then finally opened his eyes unfreezing himself

 

 

“C’mon let‘s go! You ready?” Neku shouted to Joshua

 

“Of course” he replied

 

Neku then snapped his fingers and became his God form and Joshua became his Death God form.

 

The gold and silver beings then glanced at each other and zoomed towards Anthony and Kurushii as fast as lightning making them unable to dodge the attacks as the two Gods slashed both of the demons, making them leak Demon energy.

 

Neku then blasted God energy at Anthony making him scream as more of his body was burned. He then recoiled towards one of the stain glass windows. Neku then leaped after Anthony and became his dragon energy form along with Kurushii following him.

 

“Joshua, go get the others” Neku said urgently

 

“Got it” he shouted back

 

Joshua then held out his hand unfreezing all of the other friends making them go to their Angel forms and fly with Joshua who was going after Neku. They saw his dragon form tackle Anthony and bite and slash him eight times and unleashed a barrier knocking Kurushii away from him.

 

The demon then roared blasting the dragon form as Anthony became his true form. Neku’s dragon form then reverted back to his God form and blasted more energy at Anthony.

 

He then fired back causing their energies to clash. Joshua and Neku’s other friends then all flew following him.

 

Neku’s God energy broke Anthony’s and hit him causing him to teleport to Neku, grab his face, swing him away from him and then fire his Smorzando energy at Neku.

 

Although it didn’t hut him, Neku began to feel his God form burning him, causing him to then feel the Smorzando energy making him scream in pain. Kurushii then snapped his fingers again making Neku's God form scream in pain squeezing his hair from the pain becoming even worse

 

 

“Neku!” Joshua shouted “You have to power down! Your God form’s starting to hurt you!”

 

“Yeah…I will” Neku said telepathically

 

 

"What...Nngh! what did you do?" Neku said weakly to Kurushii

 

 

"I've faced beings like you before, ones who achieved this so-called limitless god power. Yet, its greatest flaw is how its energy is very intense, harming the user the more they rely on the God energy. Having immense power is quite a burden isn't it little boy?" Kurushii said walking towards Neku

 

He then powered down to his Angel form, the Smorzando energy then burned him even more, making Neku scream in pain. He then teleported to the ground and the energy dissolved. Anthony then teleported over to the ground to continue fighting Neku

 

As Anthony prepared to fight Neku more he then sees Kurushii taunt him, knowing Neku's Angel form could only do so much

 

“You think your little Angel form stand a chance against me? You may be stronger than Sanae in this form, but don’t have nearly the same experience as him” he said darkly

 

Anthony then snapped his fingers making Neku get a headache as he was then frozen in place and then Kurushii summoned his energy again and made it rush towards Neku.The Smorzando energy then began to ensnare Neku as plumes of smoke making him whimper in pain. he knew he was in trouble and about to be killed, the smoke was smothering him.

 

"Nnngh! Y-You know...S-Sanae?" Neku said weakly

 

 

"Heh, indeed I do. He's the man who killed me, I can sense he placed his energy inside you and your friends as if that would help you. Such a foolish man" Kurushii said slyly

 

it engulfed Neku at a rapid pace causing only his wings, head and hands (from squeezing his hair in pain) to show. On top of that it began to swallow him up and wrap around his wings, and the back of his head. if it completely ensnared him, the smoke would tear him apart making him dissolve into orbs

 

The demon smoke began to engulf Neku evenmore making him scream in pain as the smoke began to burn him more intensely as it began to swallow up his hands making his only his fingers visible and it began to wrap around his face swallowing the right half of his face making his screams return to whimpers and eventually panting out of exhaustion as he began to become unconscious

 

“Dammit” he thought “Not again! It’s burning me! It’s burning my wings! It's burning my entire body! If I don’t escape from the Smorzando smoke then...No...Screw that! I'm NOT DYING HERE!"

 

Determined to escape Neku concentrated on healing himself

 

"I don't want to feel weak and tired, I'm gonna escape! I'm gonna survive!"

 

 

he then opens his eyes and unleashes a powerful blast of Angel fire, pushing the smoke back as he activated his True Powered state

 

 

“Neku!” Shiki shouted as she flew to him

 

Shiki and his other friends then all flew down to the ground ready to support Neku.

 

“You okay?!” she asked concerned about the energy nearly swallowing him

 

“Yeah I’m fine” Neku said strongly though panting a little

 

Kurushii and Anthony then flew after Neku causing him and his friends to all fly up to him and fire their energies at the demon causing him to roar as he blasted the energy away with a black dome of energy. He then snapped his fingers causing Shiki’s Demon energy to spike up giving her a headache as she returned to her normal form. Not wanting to burn out his Angel form's powered up state, he returned to his Spirit form too

 

“Shiki?” Neku said weakly

 

She then whimpered in pain as she grew demon skin causing Neku’s eyes to tremble

 

“No!…what did I do? No…wait…it wasn’t me…Shiki…I’m sorry” Neku thought filled with heartache

 

 

She then went full demon and held out her hand creating three Mr. Mew clones alongside the original covered in purple Demon energy. At that moment, Beat felt tired too and reverted back to his normal form

 

“Yo man, I ain't able to take Demon energy outta someone's head like Shiki did witchu! We gotta take her down for real! As much as I hate it, Shiki ain’t herself anymore Phones! I don't wantchu gettin' killed man!" he yelled concerned

 

 

Beat then hanged his head with tears streaming down his face

 

 

"Shiki...forrgive me” he said sadly figuring out what he needed to do

 

 

He then flew towards Shiki only to get cut off by Neku starting to feel fatigued from being exposed to the demon smoke panting out of breath clasping his right arm

 

"No! Don't you touch her!" Neku yelled shaking his fist "There has to be another way! Maybe I can talk to her and--

 

“Dumbass! Behind you!” Beat shouted

 

Neku then looked behind him to see Shiki send the real doll and the Mr. Mew clones after Neku making the dolls summon claws as thick as knives at him filled with Virtuoso energy. Beat then shielded Neku (making him look at Beat in shock) from the attack (just like last time)  with the Mr. Mew clones slashing at Beat tearing his chest open with one of them reaching to the exposed core of Beat's soul. Neku then turns to Beat seeing this and then turn back at Shiki, seeing her say his Soul Code out loud, ready to break it.

 

"Beat, Soul Code: 4-5, 6-9, 8-2--" Shiki's demonic form said smiling as she gets cut off by Neku

 

"Noo! I won't let you break his Soul Code!" Neku screamed seeing this as his chance to run up to Shiki.

 

He then placed his hand on her forehead while summoning a dark blue aura around him neutralizing the demon energy, making Shiki nearly pass out. He then caught her by her shoulders and healed her with his energy again

 

“Nnngh! Neku? How did you do that?” Shiki said surprised

 

“I dunno…I just knew I had to neutralize the energy, I guess that thinking that made me then have that ability” he said weakly

 

He then lets go of her happy to see she could stand on her own. He then looked behind him seeing Beat healing himself. Seeing how Neku was distracted Kurushii then began to walk towards him with his true eyes activated making Neku get a headache

 

"Neku!" Shiki yelled seeing him hurt 

 

"Phones!" Beat cried 

 

“Nnngh! No…if he get’s too close then I’m screwed! And…I still feel weak from that demon smoke he used on my Angel form” Neku said weakly

 

At that moment, Kurushii snapped his fingers makimg Shiki and Beat scream and collapse onto the ground in pain. Neku then felt a sharp jolt in his head causing him to squeeze his hair tighter

 

“It…hurts! I…I can’t fight him…not like this!” he thought

 

As Kurushii drew closer the pain increased making Neku scream as he fell to his knees feeling like he's being crushed

 

"AAAAAAGH! Nnnnngh! S-Stop!" Neku whimpered "don't...come any...closer!"

 

Anthony then teleported to be next to Kurushii and smiled a little as Kurushii walked closer to Neku being just a few feet from him causing Neku's body to tremble in pain as he leaked energy in his left shoulder, right forearm, left calve, right hand, and left cheek while also tearing his clothes making his energy leak through them too.

 

"it hurts!" Neku screamed in his head "I'm breaking apart! at this rate I'll face Soul Obstruction! I...I'm...not gonna make it...if this keeps up

 

As he began to feel weaker, like he could pass out at any moment and let the Smorzando energy kill him, Neku then thought about why he was willing to go achieve God Status, why he went through so much to get to the fight he’s at right now, causing him to glow with a white Aura feeling its warmth

 

“CAT?” he said weakly

 

Neku then opened his eyes and lets go of his hair not feeling the headache or his body burn anymore

 

“His Angel energy” Neku thought looking down at the palms of his hands “It’s protecting me”

 

At that moment,  the other friends were no longer in pain and Neku’s friends then all summoned energy in their hands and fired at Anthony only for him to hold his hand out making the energy beams slow down. He then snapped his fingers causing them to explode.

 

Neku then charged at Kurushii and Anthony determined to win, to survive and live an Afterlife of freedom

 

“I won’t falter anymore! The world ends at my horizons, I’ve got this! I don’t need to feel overwhelmed, or nervous, I’m tired of all of that crap! I’m not letting these Demons hurt me anymore!” he screamed in his head

 

Anthony’s Smorzando form then reached out his hand summoning the demon smoke again to swallow up Neku, but as much as he tried to ensnare Neku within the energy, it was getting pushed back again, almost as if Neku was sort of wrapped in a bubble

 

He then allowed his energy to dissolve seeing how he couldn't drown Neku in it and tried to slash him over and over with his claws. at that moment, Mr. H's Angel energy dissolved as Neku focused on his energy. remembering his training, dodged all of the attacks and swung his leg beneath Anthony making him trip.

 

 

Neku then tackled Anthony wrapping his legs around him and punched him in the face summoning his own energy in his fists burning the demon’s face. he then blasted Neku back with Demon energy from his body and got back up charging at him, Anthony then attempted to punch Neku in the face, only to have Neku dodge the move, leaning to his right and dashed towards him punching Anthony in the face with his energy

 

 

Anthony then fired his energy back at Neku causing him to go flying back, he then sprouted Angel wings to recover and flew back to the ground landing by his friends, and then lets his wing dissolve and then blasted his energy at Anthony and it exploded out of his hands as the energy flew as massive beams. at that moment, Kurushii then shot a comet of demon energy at Neku and his friends making them dodge the energy as it exploded, and Neku recreated his dash psych out of Angel energy and slammed into Kurushii making him get knocked back

 

 

Neku then charged up to Anthony yet again and fired five beams of his energy at him and then leaped in the air and broke the sound barrier flying to Anthony and charged energy all around his body and slashed Anthony over a dozen times and flew back from Anthony a bit and then flew in front of him again, broke the sound barrier again and slashed Anthony's right cheek launching him in the air.

 

 

At that moment Soul Stealers appeared to stand in their way and anyone from helping Neku, even in the Composer District someone stood in Mr. H’s way…Megumi

 

the former Conductor fired his whip-like energy at Mr. H only to have him dodge the attacks and shoot Angel energy at him. Megumi then chuckled and teleported back and snap his fingers blasting black energy outlined in red again (the same energy he used to whip Neku) and fired it at the Angel.

 

"Noise energy?" Mr. H thought

 

he then dodged it and teleported to Megumi punching him in the face.

 

"Why are you doing this?! The Composer spared Shibuya, there's no need to fight anymore!" Mr. H shouted

 

The Conductor then merely chuckled

 

"I may not know you, but I can tell you have ties to the Reapers' Game too since you know that information. While that is true,  that boy, as long as he and other people like him exist, the city is still at risk of being in danger again! People with high levels of imagination could easily be used again as the Composer of Shibuya's proxy for some other bet he makes one day. I would know after all, just like that boy, I too have high levels of Imagination." he said slyly

 

Megumi then chuckled again

 

"Neku Sakuraba, I could sense that even in the UG that boy had an intense amount of power within him. His mind and Soul enabling him to use a vast amount of psychs, truly he was a marvel. But tell me this Mr. H, now that the Reapers' Game over, why let such a troublesome little spirit live? thanks to my Smorzando eyes, the moment I looked at Neku, I could sense everything that has happened to him and everything you have done! We may not have known each other back then, I didn't even know your name, but I do know one thing that is absolutely certain! Everything that endangered the afterlife up until now is because of him and people like him!" The Conductor said sternly

 

 

"you knew that allowing that would cause him to be in danger in the afterlife...killing Neku is the only way to prevent this madness from continuing until the next person at his level arrives! So as strong as he is, Neku Sakuraba deserves nothing but despair!" he said darkly

 

infuriated by his remark, the Guardian Angel then roared sounding like a lion as he went to his True Powered State and charged at Megumi

 

"This man is an Angel? Is this power beyond the Composer?!" Megumi thought surprised 

 

 

The fight then continued with Neku’s friends fighting the Soul Stealers and Beat teleported to Neku, helping him fight Kurushii and Anthony. Seeing the beams Neku had fired, Anthony snapped his fingers making them dissolve and when the energy no longer engulfed the area around him, he saw that Neku had vanished.

 

The Demon Lord then turned around only to be blasted by Neku's energy in the face, sending him flying. Neku then flew up into the air and held out his left hand to him making orbs the size of boulders fall down towards him. Overwhelmed with shock, Anthony then ran away to avoid the boulder-sized energy.

 

"How is he generating this much energy?! he's just a frail and weak little boy!" Anthony thought

 

Neku then roared and fired his energy down at Anthony causing him to attempt to run even faster, but one of the orbs exploded sending him rolling onto the ground only to be hit by the energy making him scream in pain as the energy burned his skin making orbs leak out of it.

 

Kurushii then covered for Anthony and blasted a massive beam of Demon energy at Neku and Beat making them teleport to Kurushii and uppercut him in his jaw. He then fired demon energy at them making Neku and Beat scream in pain as it burned their bodies making them both collapse onto the ground painting in pain.

 

As Neku got back up again, Beat noticed Neku was struggling, and became his Angel form's True Power form and leaped infront of Neku and punched Kurushii in the face so hard his demon energy leaked out of his face and he teleported above Kurushii and blasted energy on his chest, making Kurushii smash onto the ground tearing his clothes.

 

 

"How? How is this boy so strong? ...it's Sanae isn't it? Or is this a combination of his own strength and the energy?" Kurushii thought as he got up

 

 

Beat then tries to punch Kurushii in the face again and sees his enemy block the punch

 

 

"Beat, am I correct? I can see you're very powerful as an Angel. A very interesting spirit. If things were different, you could've been a very powerful demon through sheer strength alone. I would've loved to have made you one of my serrvants" he said syly.

 

 

"Whatchu say? I'mma never letchu punks fill me wid that demon energy crap! Even if my strength would be really tough yo! It ain't worth it! I ain't turnin' into that!" Beat said hanging onto his left shoulder

 

 

"I was the bad guy one time yo, an' I ain't doing dat again! AND I ain't lettin' you kill Phones!" Beat screamed clenching his fists

 

 

Beat then kept blasting Kurushii with energy as Neku then flew towards him and blasted energy so intense it bursted out of his hands making a breeze around Neku from the force.

 

 The energy then blasted into Anthony as he leaped in front of it making sure the attack didn't hit Kurushii and he screamed as he went flying smacking himself against the ground. He then placed his right hand on his head extended out his left hand and summoned his energy as bullets at Anthony making him cringe and scream as the bullets actually shot holes that leaked demon energy into his body. They then switch an Neku fights Kurushii also unleashing that same massvie blast of Angel energy at Kurushii causing him to barely manage to dodge the attack

 

 

Neku then tossed an orb of his energy into the air and snapped his fingers making it become his Katana. Neku then slashed Kurushii with his energy twelve times making Kurushii scream in pain. Determined to hurt his enemy more, Neku then did his usual pose for concentrating and placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes, making his energy surround his body like fire.

 

 

The fire then danced wildly making his body burn. He then opened his eyes, making all that fire like energy concentrated into his left hand, with his right hand behind him, as he faced the left while blasting the energy out of his hand in one massive explosion, smashing into Kurushii making him scream in pain.

 

 

“HOW?! How is just a mere little boy able to do this?! Higher Mind or not, he should be weak by now!” Kurushii thought

 

then Neku blasted a sonic boom at Anthony making him go flying back and teleport a safe distance to heal. Neku then teleported to Kurushii, slashing him from every angle as a darkblue blur. Kurushii, enraged, then Imprinted a command to make Neku stop

 

 

" **ENOUGH!** " he imprinted

 

Neku then slowed down becoming himself again and as Kurushii was about to attack he felt like he was stuck. becoming even more frustrated, Kurushii shot demon energy from his mouth and sent Neku crashing to the ground, sliding on his right shoulder.

 

he then got up and wore a smug smile

 

"did you really think I was just teleporting?" he said slyly

 

Neku then snapped his fingers revealing his energy as chains being white outlined in darkblue with one chain leading towards him. he then walked towards it, Neku then grabbed the chain, pulled Kurushii towards him, and then sent a shockwave at Kurushii sending him flying back. as he did, Neku then pulled the chain upward, twisted it, making Kurushii now upside down, and pulled him towards him making Kurushii fall down.

 

 

the moment they were face to face, with Kurushii's being one of shock, and Neku's being one of determination, then blasted his fire energy into Kurushii making the chains break and send him crashing to the ground with his clothes and body torn leaking dozen of orbs.

 

Neku then snapped his fingers and became his demon form

 

"Now's my chance! I gotta overpower him" Neku thought

 

The former Demon Lord then leaped into the air and zoomed after Kurushii surrounded by a black aura and slashed him dozens of times making Kurushii roar as he sent a dome of Demon energy at Neku blasting him away, unconscious with his clothes torn from being burned in the explosion

 

“No! Neku!” Shiki screamed as she saw him burnt from the blast

 

As he regained consciousness Neku opened his eyes shocked to see that he hadn’t had hit the ground. He glanced at his left and right shoulders to see he had bat wings and flashed back to when he saw Taki break a stain glass window and fly out of it. Neku then smiled knowing what this meant

 

“thanks Takato” Neku thought

 

He then flew at Kurushii grabbed his right arm, and tossed him into the air and teleported to him to fire more Angel energy but Kurushii teleported above Neku and blasted him with a blast of demon energy sending Neku back crashing to the ground and choked him, holding him in place. Kurushii then healed some of his wounds and smiled at Neku's pain. He then raised Neku into the air and triggered his blood red eyes again making Neku return to his normal form, and made Neku scream to the point of crying and passes out, making Kurushii toss his unconscious fragile little teen on the ground

 

 

as all this happened, Beat had returned to his Angel's normal state punching Anthony over and over in the face making Anthony also exhausted covered in wounds

 

 

as Neku laid there face first on the ground, Kurushii then summoned four Soul Stealers which then placed their hands on Neku's back, draining him of his energy making his skin tear leaking energy. as they did, Kurushii then stood with his arms behind his back and made the tips of his trench coat dig into Neku's exposed energy and pulled Neku towards him.

 

Neku then regained conciousness and one of the four Soul Stealers stabbed Neku's back, making him scream. Kurushii then turned Neku onto his back and lets go of him allowing the Soul Stealers to pin Neku down

 

Infuriated, knowing how much he means to Shiki, and how he's become her friend, Eri ran towards the Soul Stealers and became her Angel form. Shiki and friends then flew after her filled with concern.

 

"Eri don't! you haven't been an Angel as long as we have! even though you're as strong as Mr. H, it's still risky for you!" Shiki screamed

 

"I don't care!" Eri roared back

 

she then fired Angel energy at the Soul Stealers making it explode out of her hands (finally unleashing the same hostility that Mr. H's power has, on them) causing two of them to go after her, while the other two stayed behind draining Neku to the point he leaked dozens of black orbs while he squirmed desperately to free himself.

 

"Eri don't!" Neku screamed

 

Eri then fired more Angel energy at the Soul Stealers causing them to both tackle her to the ground making her scream in pain. As they slashed her, four more Soul Stealers appeared to fight Shiki and the others, to give the other Soul Stealers time to kill Eri.

 

Feeling even more determined, she snapped her fingers and entered her True Powered State. Then seventeen more Soul Stealers appeared and slashed Eri determined to kill her, but she was so fired up this state that no matter how many times she was slashed, she didn't revert back to her normal Angel form. She then roars like a Lion sending a massive blast of Angel lighting, making the Soul Stealers attacking her dissolve

 

"Whoa" Rhyme said startled

 

Eri then looked back and smiled at her

 

at that moment another Soul Stealer flew towards Eri causing Rhyme to scream for Eri to look behind her, but it was too late. the Soul Stealer then slashed her in the face sending her flying as she powered down to her Angel form's normal state, only to feel two hands catch her.

 

She then opens her eyes and looks to her right to see Beat seeing that he had teleported to her

 

"I gotchu Eri!" Beat said firmly causing her to gaze at Beat's face for a few seconds. Noticing what a firm and strong jaw he has

 

 

He noticed and then looked at her confused 

 

 

"Huh? You aight Eri?" He asked

 

"Oh?" She said while blushing 

 

Eri's eyes then dart to the left 

 

"Yeah. I'm fine" she said shyly 

 

 

"I can't help but feel safe in his arms like this, like he would protect me" Eri thought 

 

Hearing her thoughts, Beat looked at Eri and blushed 

 

"Eri? How come I didn't notice this sooner yo? Should I tell her l feel the same? She ain't just a friend to me, she's more than that" he thought

 

They then look ahead to see Rhyme smiling 

 

"Be careful okay?" Rhyme said sweetly

 

"Yeah, thanks guys" Eri said smiling

 

they then landed on the ground and saw Shiki had caught up to them. Neku’s friends then fired domes of Angel energy at the Soul Stealers making them dissolve (teleporting away to attack later) feeling tired, his friends all powered down and glide towards Neku, sensing him become weak as he was surrounded by eight Soul Stealers.

 

As they flew to him, they saw a massive blast of Angel energy blast the Soul Stealers away from him, making three of them dissolve. As they got closer, Eri ended up the closest one to the Soul Stealers

 

Unaware of how she was overexerting herself with Angel energy, she then slashed the Soul Stealers on Neku making them blast her back as she and her friends looked filled with terror as the saw a pillar of demon energy linger above Neku. the two Soul Stealers then lowered their hands, preparing to have the energy impale him. Eri then flew as fast as she could

 

"NEKUUU!" Eri screamed filled with tears.

 

she then looked down at Neku seeing him look at her in shock as his eyes watered, and then dissolved as the energy hit her.

 

"NOOOO!" Neku screamed 

 

“Eriii! oh my gosh!” Shiki roared as tears fell down her face

 

"ERIIIII!" Beat screamed as he cried too

 

"Eri...no she can't be gone!" Rhyme screeched also crying

 

Anthony then chuckled and smiled at Neku hearing him whimper as Kurushii burned his neck

 

"Let's make this more private" he said softly

 

Anthony then saw Kurushii fly to the Cathedral and threw Neku to one of the windows, blasting him through it with his energy. Anthony then teleported to the room to help Kurushii fight. As this happened, Shiki cried over the loss of her longtime friend. Along with Beat falling to his knees screaming

 

"I JUST WANTED TO BE THERE FOR HER! Just like HOW SHE WAS FOR ME! ERI! I RRRGH! I NEVER GOT TO TELL HER THAT I FEEL THE SAME WAY!  I'm...so sorry!" Beat yelled but the girls were speechless, crying to the point of choppy breath

 

“there’s no time to mourn guys we have to hurry” Joshua said sternly

 

"Rrgh! SHUT IT! How can you say that yo?! Me and Rhyme were the ones there for her when Eri was all alone! She needed us! AND WE NEEDED HER! SHE HELPED ME AND RHYME WHEN WE WERE MISSIN' SHIKI AND PHONES! SHE HELPED US NOT FEEL ALONE!" Beat yelled

 

"Eri...Eri no...I don't want an eternity without you!" Shiki whimpred as more tears fell off her face

 

 

"Beat! Shiki!" Rhyme said wiping her tears "I miss her too! But we have to hurry! At this rate, we might lose Neku too!"

 

 

Shiki then wiped her tears knowing he was right

 

Shiki, Joshua, Beat and Rhyme then all flew to the Cathedral glad that they could still feel Neku’s presence, regardless of how tired Neku was starting to feel, they all felt him pushing himself with his mind

 

In the meantime, Mr. H (now powered down to his human form) fought Megumi savagely attacking him now asking him why he’s still doing this, what was his reason for continuing to fight him

 

“Megumi stop! there's no point to this! even if I had killed him as a spirit that still wouldn't solve anything. As long as humans exist, they will have Souls, demons will always hunt them as long as they exist" Mr. H said sternly

 

“I'm well aware of that, but Neku Sakuraba is no longer needed. Can you honestly say that allowing him to live was a good choice? Look at what's happened! The Higher Plane has been thrown into chaos...all because of one little boy” Megumi said slyly

 

He then became his snake Noise form and Mr. H pulled two of his feathers making them become the color of two Noise energies and became Patherus Cantus charging towards the Conductor and battled.

 

Pantheras Cantus slashed the Conducto's snake form and slashed it to the point static was pouring out making Megumi scream in pain. He then reverted back to his normal form and Mr. H then returned to his Angel 2nd state and unleashed a comet of Angel energy, incinerating the Conductor.

 

Feeling merciful, and knowing Meguimi isn't that bad deep down, and was trying to do what he thought was right, made the comet dissolve and kept the orbs of Megumi's soul and teleported them to his house to repair later

 

Neku’s friends then all went into the cathedral and all saw GM’s waiting for them. Beat and Rhyme took on Konishi, Shiki took on Yodai, and Joshua fought Sho. All the while Kurushii and Anthony had Neku all to himself.

 

Neku, now in his demon form, fought Anthony with five jabs to his enemy’s stomach and recreated his slashing Psych with his mind slashing Anthony, the demon then attempted to kick Neku, but Neku blocked the attack with his knee and then electrocuted him sending Anthony flying back.

 

He then recovered in the air and blasted energy at Neku making him leap towards the wall behind him and wall jump towards Anthony blasting his demon energy at Anthony again.

 

he then snapped his fingers making Neku's energy dissolve and Anthony then went to his true form, and Neku to his Staccato form and the two Demons zigzagged in the air crashing into each other over 20 times. The black beam dissolved and Neku reverted back to his demon form panting out of breath.

 

“You can’t win Neku…only your God form is strong enough to kill me” Anthony said darkly

 

“He’s right” Neku thought exhausted “I can only last so long even by pushing myself with my mind”

 

Neku then powered down to his normal form and began to scream in pain as he began to break apart from being so close to Anthony’s true form. Smorzando energy began to swallow up Neku making him scream to the point he began to cry as it felt like knives were digging into him as his Soul leaked his energy again. Kurushii began healing even more of his health and then smiled at Neku's pain and whipped him with his Demon energy

 

His friends wanted to help but the GM’s were very powerful filled with Smorzando energy, but regardless of that they were still vulnerable. Thanks to Neku’s friends’ determination they were able to get them exhausted to the point each demonic Reaper had reverted back to their human forms allowing Joshua to imprint

 

“ **Suffocate** ”

 

Each of the GM’s then all fell to the floor wheezing as they all tried to breathe

 

“ **Heart stop** ”

 

With that Imprint all the Reapers instantly became pale and dissolved into static. They then all ran to Neku determined to help him.

 

To help speed up the process, Soul Stealers began to latch onto Neku making Anthony remove the plume of smoke allowing the Soul Stealers to do their work. Another Soul Stealer then went right up to Neku‘s face and pressed its hand on Neku‘s chest making a dark blue mist go into the demon making Neku‘s eyes widen.

 

“let go…stop!” Neku whimpered

 

Overwhelmed with pain, Neku tried to crawl away from them but a Soul Stealer slashed Neku’s back making him crash against a wall. with his back now against the wall, the soul stealer then wrapped its cloak around Neku's arms, pinning them against the wall, making Neku's eyes widen as the Soul Stealer snarled at him and he saw his energy begin to flow into the Soul Stealer. Along with Kurushii holding out his hand to drain Neku's energy

 

"such an interesting boy. Even if Neku has managed to hurt Anthony and even me, he's not strong enough to kill me" Kurushii thought pleased

 

 

"Nnngh! L-Let go!" Neku screamed again

 

at that moment the Soul Stealer holding Neku, dissolved into orbs from a Green instant kill shot.

 

 

"Beat" Neku thought relived looking towards him

 

 

As he did, he heard a snarl making him look at another Soul Stealer as it flew to him and began to wrap its cloak around Neku, draining him of his energy

 

“Nnngh…Gotta stay awake” Neku thought as he began to become unconscious “Calm down. I don’t need to be afraid of them…I’ve got this. I can‘t pass out here”

 

As much as he tried, Joshua could sense that Neku had had enough, his Soul was weakening. Neku then felt his eyes begin to close as a dark blue mist began to flow out of his entire body and into the Soul stealer and Kurushii again

 

“No…they’re really killing him!” Joshua thought

 

He then sees a massive dome of Neku's energy blasting the Soul Stealers away and Joshua fired multiple Instant Kill Shots making them Fade causing Neku to fall to his knees using his hands to hold himself up making Kurushii then heal himself again, restoring his clothes 

 

Anthony then became a blur as he swarmed Joshua with dozens of slashes, tearing his skin and clothes apart.

 

He then punched Joshua in the stomach and face sending him rolling to the ground laying on his left side. Neku’s friends wanted to help but they found themselves frozen with fear seeing who they thought they could always count on, in pain.

 

Anthony then kicked Joshua in the stomach over and over making him cough up orbs of energy. He then smiled as he picked up Joshua by the neck and began choking him, making Joshua wheeze for air.

 

 

The Demon Lord then squeezed harder and electrocuted Joshua with demon energy, making him scream in pain as his skin got covered in even more slash marks and bruises. He then lets the frail Composer drop to the floor as Anthony then punches Joshua on the right side of his face, making Joshua smash onto the floor.

 

“Josh” Neku whispered as he struggled to get up placing his hands on his knees, desperate to help

 

The Demon then grabs Joshua by his left leg and smashes him onto the ground again, and kicked him making Joshua roll to the right and lay still curled in a ball of pain as he laid there wheezing, with tired halfway open eyes, scaring everyone.

 

Who they once thought was an almighty, untouchable god in a human form, was now breakable, vulnerable, and frail...human, just like them. Seeing the mysterious Composer be hurt, covered in slashes and bruises, with his clothes ripped to shreds, with his Composer energy leaking out of his skin, a state they never thought they'd see, terrified the friends as they looked at Joshua in shock as they see him close his eyes becoming unconscious. Even Neku, who finally managed to stand up, looked at Joshua terrified

 

"But...he's the Composer, he's a god...no...if not even Joshua can win, someone who's more experienced at being a god than me then...Joshua...you can't die. You just can't!" Neku thought looking at his friend

 

The Demon Lord then fired Smorzando energy at Joshua making him scream as he was sent flying and crashed against a wall.

 

 

Anthony then crept closer determined to get rid of Neku’s powerful friend, he knew he had to act fast or else Neku would lose yet another friend and began running towards Joshua, dizzy and aching in pain.

 

 

To be continued…


	19. Lost Potential

He then ran to Joshua determined not to lose him to Anthony. The demon lord then summoned Smorzando energy in his right hand and walked towards him prepared to deliver the final blow, to the unconscious Composer, hoping to lure Neku to him to harm him once again. The demon then sees Joshua regain consciousness though still with tired eyes

 

“Tell me Joshua, if you don’t care about Neku, if he’s just your Proxy, than why are you fighting so hard for him not to Fade hm?” Anthony said mockingly

 

Joshua then raised his head to look at Anthony and saw him prepare to strike

 

“Because…he…he’s someone I need to protect…my Proxy needs me” he said weakly

 

Joshua then closed his eyes charging up energy but as he did this, he heard someone grunt in pain, Anthony attacked stabbing Neku in the stomach making Joshua look up in shock

 

“Neku…he protected me” Joshua thought

 

Anthony then smacked Neku away from him with so much force, Neku slid across the floor(knowing he could kill Neku anytime due to how weak Neku is from his wounds and focused on killing Joshua to stop his meddling) knowing Kurushii could torture him

 

Joshua then closed his eyes and opened them again to summon a huge blast of Composer energy sending Anthony flying, as he did, a bolt of white lightning crashed him to the ground. The lightning bolt then became his longtime friend

 

"Sanae" Joshua muttered

 

 

Mr. H then looked at him and smiled and placed his hand on Joshua's back healing him with Angel energy

 

"You know I'd never let you get killed by them. It's like I always told ya in the RG, that I'd be there for ya Josh. Sorry I took so long, the Conductor wanted to fight me, so I had to beat him and then give myself time to heal" the Guardian explained

 

 

Joshua then smiled a little and got back up seeing Mr. H snap his fingers, healing Neku of his wounds. As he did, so did Kurushii and Anthony who began walking towards Neku, seeing him struggle to stand up.  As he struggled to stand up, two people then appeared from red portals making Kurushii and Anthony then look towards them along with Neku standing up and doing the same seeing Hikaru and Akemi appear through the portals and notice Kurushii.

 

 

Akemi and Hikaru then bow to him

 

 

"It is truly an honor to be in your presence Lord Kurushii" Akemi stated she then looks towards Neku for a split second, noticing that merely mentioning that name gave him a headache

 

"I can't believe it. It really is amazing my lord, but how are you here? I thought you were killed years ago" Hikaru added

 

 

Kurushii then smiled and bowed back

 

 

"While that is true, I have been revived by the current Demon Lord to help him kill someone" Kurushii replied

 

now standing normally, the two maids then look at Kurushii shocked

 

 

"Really? Who?" Hikaru asked

 

 

"Neku Sakuraba" Kurushii replied making the maids look at him for a few seconds and then turn their attention to Anthony

 

 

"Anthony milord, we've come to tell you something important!" Akemi said firmly

 

"I take it that now you've overcome your issues with the former Demon Lord, Damien?" Anthony said smiling

 

"Actually, it's something else" Hikaru added "We've come to tell you, we...we want to switch sides and fight for Neku! We now know the truth behind Demons thanks to Neku and his friends! That demons are beings that were once human souls like him!" 

 

"You act as if that actually matters! While some demons are able to remember bits and pieces of their past life and others don't, all that matters is who we are now. You're honestly going to betray me to fight for Neku's safety?! It's because of his physique isn' it?" Anthony snarled

 

"If he was alive again, he'd be 15 years old, the same age as you Hikaru and one year younger than you Akemi. It's rare for Demon Lords to be around his age. FINE THEN! If you're going to throw your eternities away for some pathetic little boy, then I'll be the one to show you your punishment!" Anthony said firmly

 

"What?! No! there's more to it than that, It's that he was so kind to us, that he cared about is as Damien, and it's the fact that our past lives as Spirits were kept secret from us! No one ever told us who we once were! So who knows what other secrets the past Mistresses and Lords were hiding from us!" Hikaru said defiantly 

 

"Enough excuses! Loyalty is something that I value very dearly, and so because of you both betraying that, you and your sister don't deserve to by my servants!" Anthony snarled

 

 

Kurushii then looked at the maids with disgust

 

 "To betray the Demon Lord or Mistress is to abandon our kind. The role of a Lord or Mistress is to do what they think is best for the Demon Realm and its citizens. From attempting to expand our territory, to fighting alongside other high ranked demons to kill intruders invading our realm. I tried to rid the Afterlife of arrogance and hate and was killed for it! I ruled over this realm for many years yet, I have never witnessed this behavior. Trust and loyalty is something that I cherish. Treason is the ultimate act against of offense and is punishable by death!" he said sternly making the maids look at him terrified

 

 

Anthony snapped his fingers and recreated Triple 7 (777), Uzuki, Kariya and Coco overflowing with Smorzando demon energy.

 

"huh? Coco?! She's the one who sent me back to the UG!" Neku said startled

 

"And I can sense she's a very powerful Reaper too. A perfect host for demon energy, wouldn't you say Neku?" Anthony said slyly making Neku growl

 

"Kill them all, but Neku Sakuraba is mine" he snarled

 

he then turned towards Neku seeing him look in shock. As Anthony raised his left hand to strike Neku with demon energy two beams of white energy knocked him away, which dissolved into Mr. H's Angel form and Joshua's Composer form

 

"Go help the others! We'll handle Anthony and Kurushii for now!" Joshua said instructing Neku

 

"Got it! Just be careful!" Neku yelled

 

 

Neku then flew towards Hikaru and Akemi and got in his fighting stance along with Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme. the possessed Reapers then all charged at Neku and the others with Coco and Triple 7 attacking Beat and Rhyme and Uzuki and Kariya attacking Neku and Shiki.

 

As Reapers possessed by Demon energy, Uzuki was much more hostile, using her energy to shoot energy bullets at Neku and Shiki and Kariya unleashed demon fire along with three clones overwhelming Neku and Shiki

 

Beat and Rhyme also struggled against Triple 7 and Coco. Coco was very sadistic while possessed making Beat and Rhyme be covered in scratches causing Coco to laugh at them as Triple 7 would unleash sonic booms from his mouth and Coco would stare blankly as she burned Beat and Rhyme. As they fought Uzuki and Kariya smiled at Neku and Shiki

 

"I never thought I'd see you two again, but now you'll both die!" she yelled

 

"This really takes me back" Kairya added

 

she then creates a dome of demon energy blasting her foes away, only to be tackled by Hikaru and receive multiple slashes in her face. Akemi then helps Neku and Shiki get back up and Neku smiled at her activating his demon form along with Shiki doing the same making her skirt turn red and her green sweater vest dissolve and wear black slippers. They then slashed Kariya and Uzuki over and over. 

 

Kariya teleports out of the slash attack only to punch Neku in the face and stomach up to eight times he then blasts demon energy into Neku's stomach making him scream as he smashes on to the ground, managing to get up. Shiki then looks at Hikaru and Akemi and all nod in agreement and unleash comets of Demon energy at Uzuki and Kariya making them leak orbs out of their bodies. Neku and Shiki then power down to their normal states and glow white angel energy

 

"Angels can manipulate time like Death Gods can, let's use that Shiki!" Neku said in his fighting stance

 

"Yeah! We gotta try that out!" Shiki yelled

 

Neku and Shiki concentrated on slowing down their enemy's movements making Uzuki and Kariya move in slow motion and then switch to their demon forms and blast comets of demon energy at them making them dissolve into orbs. Overhearing Neku and Shiki, Beat and Rhyme slow down the movement of their enemies and get some attacks in too.

 

As they ran to help Beat and Rhyme, Coco stood in their way with a blank expression

 

"Neku Sakuraba must be killed. It's what Anthony wants" she said in a monotone voice  

 

She then snapped her fingers making everyone get headaches and return to their normal forms and she slashed Neku multiple times followed by blasting Demon fire at him. he then manages to get up and sees her try to slash him again causing him to dodge the swipes causing her to grab his neck and burn him making him scream.

 

"Neku!" Shiki yelled

 

she then became infuriated that Coco was hurting him again, if he was possessed

 

"I've had enough of you messing with him!" she roared with her arms crossed

 

she then pointed at Coco, making Panther Mr. Mew tackle her away from Neku, which allowed him to do his usual focus pose to heal himself. As Coco fought Shiki and Panther Mr Mew, Neku then sees them get knocked back and Coco snaps her fingers, making Neku get a headache to the point of screaming in pain. She then walks to Neku and places her hand near his head only for Neku to see a white orb from the corner of his eye. At that moment, he sees it become Joshua, hears a gunshot, and sees Coco fall forward as she's shot in her back, allowing Neku to see Joshua pointing a gun at her.

 

 

"Joshua? He protected me again...just like how he tried to stop Coco from sending me back to the UG" he thought in shock

 

Joshua then teleports back to fighting Anthony

 

He then sees Coco fall towards him and grabs her arms electrocutes her with Angel energy blasting her away from him and then he lets out a comet of Angel energy making her scream as she dissolves

 

they then went to join Beat and Rhyme only to see Triple 7 choke Beat and stab his chest open making green orbs go flying out.

 

"No! You gotta stop! I know you're not that bad Triple 7!" Neku screamed

 

He and the others then all teamed up with Hikaru and Akemi slashing Triple 7 away from Beat and Hikaru unleashed a powerful comet of demon energy making Triple 7 dissolve. Neku and the others then look in the distance to see Kurushii and Anthony with black demon smoke bursting out of their bodies as Mr. H (2nd state) and Joshua was close to killing them.  Anthony then became his true demon form and blasted Mr. H and Joshua away in an explosion and saw Hikaru and Akemi fly towards him.

 

he then flew towards them and choked them electrocuting his former servants

 

"I hope breaking my trust was worth it" he said in a sinister voice.

 

the girls then reverted to their normal demon forms and Anthony electrocuted them even more intensely making them cry, causing Mr. H and Joshua to fly to him to make Anthony stop, but it was too late, the girls then dissolved into orbs and disappeared. 

 

"You'd kill your own kind?!" Neku said shocked

 

"of course, you of all people know how much it hurts to have one's trust broken. It's something I will  _never_  tolerate, would you?" Anthony sad crossing his arms

 

"Rrrgh! Shut up! Just because I value loyalty and knowing I can trust the people around me, doesn't mean I would kill anyone who betrays me!" Neku yelled shaking his fist

 

Anthony then snapped his fingers healing his and Kurushii's wounds from Joshua and Mr. H and simultaneously freezing everyone but him and Neku in place. He then flies towards Neku attempting to slash him over and over making Neku dodge the attacks. meanwhile, as Neku focused on dodging, Kurushii fired Smorzando demon energy at Neku

 

"Neku look ahead of you!" Beat yelled

 

He did just that but it was too late as the beam of energy was already about to hit him, making Neku shield his face as energy beam made an impact with him sending him flying back. As he was launched into the air Anthony then blasted his chest making Neku scream as he smashed onto the ground. 

 

As Neku struggles to get up, Kurushii slashes Neku dozens of times making Neku dissolve into darkblue mist to teleport away. He then fired a comet of his Angel energy making it burn Anthony's body and clothes and teleported above Anthony and sent a pillar of his energy down slamming the demon onto the ground. He then gets up and begins healing allowing Kurushii to handle Neku.

 

 

 "Do you truly believe you stand a chance against me? That you were winning? While I'll admit that it was impressive that you and your little friend Beat were able to harm me, as you can see, it didn't last. I am no longer wounded. The only reason you were able to become your god form before was due to how I couldn't sense it at first. Do you truly think I'd allow you to use that to kill me?" Kurushii said smiling

 

 

"Even if you don't, I'll still find a way to kill you!" Neku roared shaking his fist

 

 

 

"I gotta find a way to use my god form again, it's the only way to really kill him. All l can really do with my angel energy is really deep damage to him...but for now I gotta use my Angel energy" Neku thought while in his fighting stance

 

 

Knowing how Kurushii likes trying to make him almost pass out, Neku closed his eyes and opened them to create an aura of Angel energy to protect himself. At that moment, Anthony then hanged back, monitoring Neku's friends, keeping them frozen in place. The legendary demon then simply walked towards Neku, as Neku ran towards his enemy, he then blasts Angel lightning at Kurushii and sees the demon dodge the attack.

 

 

He then slashes Angel energy at Kurushii seven times, seeing him dodge every single one. Neku then snapped his fingers, making Kurushii move in slow motion as he was dodging, making Neku get a little smirk. He then slashes Kurushii over and over, recreates his Dash psych and dashes Angel energy into Kurushii, zig-zagging around him so fast, it was like he was teleporting, followed by giving Kurushii a rising uppercut, sending the Demon into the air. As he rose into the air, Neku teleports above him, becomes his Angel form, and then blasts a comet of Angel energy at Kurushii making him scream in pain.

 

 

The moment the comet dissolved, Neku noticed the demon was gone

 

 

"Okay, I know he's gonna try to be sneaky. Demons love doing that crap, trying to make their foe feel vulnerable. Gotta keep looking around" Neku thought as his eyes scanned the throne room

 

 

As he did, he sees a pillar of Demon energy by the corner of his eye and dodges the beam, something that made Neku's friends smile. But then a shockwave smashed into Neku's back, making Angel orbs fly out of him as he screamed in pain. He tries to recover in the air as he gets launched forward but feels someone squeeze his neck and slam him face first on the ground. He tries to get back up but at that moment he feels demon smoke cover his entire body making him scream in pain. Kurushii then appears n front of him, making the demon smoke burn Neku even more.

 

 

"No! Not again! It hurts!" Neku thinks "Damn it, the demon smoke makes it almost impossible to move! I have to do something to get out but--" at that moment Neku began to feel tired

 

 

"NOOO! I can't pass out here! Sanae was able to kill Demons eventhough they're stronger than him! So I can do that too! this is HIS Angel energy inside of me, HIS power! I've got this!" Neku screamed in his head

 

 

at that moment, Neku then opens his eyes and blasts the demon smoke away and was in his True Powered state, making Mr. H look worried

 

 

"Be careful Phones, you're already putting a huge strain on yourself!" he said mentally

 

 

"I will" Neku thought back. He then sends seven beams of Angel energy at Kurushii in a split second, making Kurushii smash into one of the arched pillars of the throne room and then generates the Instant Kill Shot in his left hand

 

 

"I'm done with this. With you and all the crap, you demons have done to me and everyone important to me!" Neku roared

 

he then fires the deadly energy, making Kurushii barely dodge the energy, making it scrape against his right arm. Seeing this, Neku's True Powered form then became a massive bolt of Angel lightning that smashed into Kurshii, burning his body and clothes. He then becomes his powered up state again and made his entire body have Angel energy surround himself and roared like a lion unleashing the massive explosion, almost killing Anthony but missing him by only an inch.

 

Neku then almost passes out, becoming his normal form again but with Angel energy still glowing around him.  When the explosion dissolves, he sees Kurushii standing back up again, though his clothes and body has more holes in them. He then sees Neku panting out breath, and smiled at his fatigue.

 

 

"These wounds you have inflicted are very deep. I can see why the Composer of Shibuya wanted you in his place, your soul became very strong despite being within the flesh. I can sense you've gone through many things Neku, and the pain and trauma you went through have made you strong. But you're reaching your limit, aren't you? Don't bother denying it, you're even panting out of breath. Do you really think this will last little fledgling? THIS is why human souls aren't taught to become Angels anymore. The immense power of an Angel is simply too much for them to bear. At this rate, your soul will burn out, you'll die just attempting to kill me." Kurushii said darkly

 

 

Neku wanted to tell him he was wrong, but he was too tired. All he could do was pant out of breath in his fighting stance as he saw Kurushii approach him. Despite how he knew it would hurt him even more, Neku knew that if he boosted the Angel energy further, it could get him closer to using his God form, causing Neku to close his eyes and focus on making the Angel Aura around him even stronger, making it become like fire. The moment he saw this, he looked at Neku in shock

 

 

"Neku! Don't do this to yourself! I'm glad you took what I said to heart, to try to trust in the Angel energy I gave you, but you're overloading yourself! Even if you push the strength of the Angel energy even further to try to make yourself take hits longer, since Kurushii is making it impossible to access your God form by making you so tired, using it this way could break you apart like Kurushii said!" Mr. H said telepathically

 

 

"I...I know Sanae, but...I don't know what else to do. I don't want to have to rely on my demon form. If I use it against Kurushii, he could make me lose control and go back to being the Demon Lord again, like how Anthony did. There's too much of a risk using it now. and I guess I...I want to show him...and...myself, that I can do this without having to rely on that power. It hurts, I already feel the energy burning my body from overexerting your Angel energy but...I have to endure it. So don't worry CAT--" Neku thought telepathically back

 

 

Neku then opens his eyes making his irises become silver with Angel energy and goes into his other fighting stance where his arms crossed like an 'X' over his chest

 

 

"I have too much on the line to die here. Angel energy is powered by determination and will...so I'm not gonna die!" He said firmly while staring down Kurushii

 

Kurushii then smiled as he approached knowing how he could make Neku's attempt to fight be in vain. He then sees Neku become a white blur and dissolves into the air. Kurushii then feels a shockwave smash him onto the ground and then feel 12 boulder-sized orbs smash into Kurushii tearing his skin and clothes even more.

 

Neku then appears out of thin air, and punches Kurushii in the stomach with his Angel energy around his fist making Kurushii scream as his energy leaked out as orbs but then at that moment snapped his fingers, reverting Neku to his dead human form, screaming as he felt the presence of Kurushii's energy. He then uses his True Eyes to make direct eye contact with Neku making him almost pass out and then he telekinetically threw Neku to one of the pillars launching him away from Kurushii.

 

 

Seeing Neku now exhausted laying on his right side, his friends' Angel energy became like fire, but this made Anthony snap his fingers, trapping them in orbs of Demon energy, unable to escape.

 

"Do you truly understand now, little Fledgling? There's nothing that you can do. Why do you bother clinging to life? How can you say you're justified in trying to kill me or the other demons?" He said sternly

 

Neku then wheezed as he tried to answer

 

"I...I don't...want to die. That's why, as much as it hurts...I'd rather fight, knowing that it'll hurt...knowing I could make my soul burn out than just lay down and die" he then tries to get up, but feels his arms tremble beneath his weight and falls down

 

 

"and what of Clarissa? Did she wish to be killed? is Anthony not justified in trying to avenge the death of his only family? You act as if we demons are the only ones who deserve to be killed yet the Higher Plane's Angels have done exactly the same thing. How can you side with them when they've done so much wrong to you? You were forced to fight to the death for the Higher Up's entertainment, You were scorned and treated as a monster by other Angels as they showed rather unangelic behavior by wanting you to die." Kurushii said as he walked towards Neku

 

"You were labeled as a menace. They are hypocrites who label us as monsters for killing those precious to them, YET THEY DO THE SAME TO US! Sanae, your little Guardian friend, killed my friend as well. All I wanted was to end this senseless death by making the Higher Plane no longer exist and kill those hypocrites! All of that is against them, yet you still side with them?" He said sternly

 

 

Neku then tries to get up again and manages to get to his feet, holding onto his right arm for support

 

 

"I...I wouldn't know what that's like...having a brother or sister, someone...who...grows up alongside me...Nnngh! But...I...I know that...if one of my friends was killed, I'd do anything to avenge their death, to...to prevent the killer from doing that again. I know they...Nngh! They're not perfect...The Higher Ups have...screwed me over multiple times, Sanae did what he had to do out of self-defense. I'm not saying it's right, but...it's the only way to survive. I did a lot of bad things and I know that thanks to when I was a Demon Lord, that there will be Angels who resent me, even...though I'm back to normal...they'll only remember me as the monster that killed their friends in the False Invasion." Neku said weakly

 

he then hanged his head

 

 

"Maybe in that sense, we all have something...in common. Even if we don't see things eye-to-eye, no one...whether they're Human, Reaper, Angel or Demon, no one wants to lose the people important to them. I know I've done things that will make them never forgive me, but...you can't force people to change. All you can really do is hope that your actions make up for it, and prove to them that you're different now, and if it doesn't...then...you just gotta move on and accept that you can't please everyone. So..."

 

Neku then feels a headache and pant out of breath before grabbing his arm again

 

 

"Even if..I...I know...that they'll resent me, I don't care. I've never really cared about what people think of me. All that matters to me is that...I can end all of this....and finally live a life of peace. I don't want to die, and you don't either. So all we can really do is defend ourselves." he said while panting

 

 

Kurushii then looks at Neku thoughtfully

 

 

"Those are wise words for such a little Fledgling soul. Compared to me, you might as well have died just now. I've existed for thousands of years--"

 

Neku then cuts him off

 

"Huh? But how can that be true? Sanae has only been here for several years. How could he have killed you despite him not being in the Higher Plane for that long?" he asked confused

 

 

"That is because of how, despite how Angels, Demons, and Death Gods have existed since the beginning of time, how our societies are structured is almost always changing and as such, the concept of the Demon Lord or Mistress is fairly new, existing for hundreds of years. Due to how one person doing one thing for all eternity can grow rather dull, we take turns and retire the title onto another Demon who is deemed worthy. That is what Clarissa did to you. You had so much potential as a Demon Lord that it truly is a shame that you threw it all away. With enough experience, you could have become as powerful as me" Kurushii answered

 

He then grabs Neku by the neck and electrocutes him making Neku scream as Kurushii then slams Neku onto the ground and begins kicking and stomping on Neku's chest over and over making him lay on his right, as Neku's vision began to blur. Kurushii then blasted Neku's body with demon energy making him scream to the point of crying as his entire body was covered in bruises and scratches.

 

"Although Anthony and I are close to each other's power, I am recognized as one of the most powerful demons who ever lived before I was killed by Sanae Hanekoma. I surpass Anthony in my level of experience, something you could have obtained as well. You could have embraced the power of a Demon Lord and become almost like a myth among the other Demons. Similarly to how I have achieved that level of respect. You were a lot like me when you were Damien and it's because of this, I'm going to show you what you threw away."

 

 He then grabs Neku by his shirt's collar and pulls him to his face

 

"In your time as the Demon Lord, you sent horrible visions of their death to your friends' minds, nearly destroying their motivation to save you. While you were able to create a vision to scare your friends, I am able to go far beyond that little Fledgling. Allow me to show you how I earned my nickname" he said slyly making his icy breath sting Neku, making him whimper in pain

 

 

he then throws Neku onto the ground and snapped his fingers making Neku scream as he trembled on the ground squeezing his hair and passed out.  A few seconds later and he stopped and opened his eyes seeing he was in Shibuya unaware that he was now caught in an illusion made by Kurushii. 

 

To be continued...

 

 


	20. Defying Legends

The illusion Kurushii created then begins with Neku knocked out in the middle of the street in Shibuya at the Scramble crossing once again

 

 

"Nnngh! What? ...how did I end up back home?" Neku mumbled

 

(Although he couldn't see them in the Illusion, his friends were able to see what was happening to him) Still laying on rightside, Neku manages to get back up seeing his surrounded by people once again at the Scramble Crossing. Not sure how he got back home, and wondering if he's in the RG again (due to everyone being a person and not a ghost in the illusion) he searches for his friends. He first heads to the Hachiko Statue but doesn't see them there. He then heads to Ramendan, and they're not there either.

 

 

"Where are they?" a concerned Neku muttered crossing his arms.

 

 

as he walked around the city more, making sure to check to see if they're at their apartments, he then stops and hides his face and places his hands in his pockets

 

"I knocked on the door to each of their apartments and no one answered. It's not like them to just not be home, not telling me where they went." he thought sadly

 

he then had an idea. Reaching into his left pocket he grabs out his Cellphone and pulls up his Contacts List and tries texting them

 

_Shiki? hey what's up? is everything okay?_

 

as he waits for her to reply, he then texts basically the same sentence to his friends waiting for at least one of them to reply...but none of them did. This then made Neku feel a knot in his stomach

 

"Damn it, what's going on? I...I don't want to let  _those thoughts_  get to me. They're fine. They're perfectly fine. Shiki could be sick and is trying to sleep it off. Beat and Rhyme might be...I dunno on some family vacation and they forgot to charge their...phones. Ugh no, that wouldn't happen. Everyone keeps their phones with them, not just for emergencies but to talk to each other. So...What's going on?" the troubled boy thought

 

His worry for his friends became more extreme, leading to more unsettling thoughts

 

"NO! DON'T start thinking like that! They're okay. I'm just getting paranoid that's all."

 

He then thought about his death in Udagawa

 

 

"If Joshua was able to just...run up and shoot me then...who's to say that the same can't...NO! DON'T! JUST STOP IT! they're okay, they're OKAY!" he screamed in his head while squeezing his hair

 

 

 He then runs to Udagawa, this time hoping that no one was there, that his friends didn't suffer the same fate as them and as he runs towards the tagmural, he stops, relieved that they aren't there. He then walks around Shibuya wondering where to go next when he hears voices near an alley

 

"Well looks like we have some more new additions" a voice said

 

"Yeah, that should've sent them to the UG" another voice replied

 

Neku then gasped realizing what that meant, he hides on the opposite side of the alley and leans his face slightly towards them to get a peek at the people talking, seeing two men. 

 

 

"What? Those guys...one of 'em is wearing a red hoodie, and the other has a gray hoodie on. No...they can't be right? but...they just mentioned the UG. Only Reapers and Players know about that place. Damn it, they just killed someone! Someone might have been sent to the UG because of them!" Neku thought worried

 

 The two men then continue their conversation

 

"I gotta admit in a twisted sort of way, it was sort of funny." The Reaper in the Red hoodie said

 

"Heh I thought it was too. Seeing those dumb kids try to act tough, not knowing who they're going up against. Even if we're human in the RG, still, we know what we could do to them when we head back. You saw the girl with those big glasses and how scared she looked?" the Reaper in the gray hoodie asked

 

hearing the description made it feel like Neku's heart stopped

 

"NO! That...can't be what happened! It's just a coincidence!" he thought

 

"Oh and when that dumb kid tried to be brave and pull the glasses girl out of the way. Acting like a tough guy got him killed. He was a fool, and then there was some kid who sort of looked like him and she cried as she was the one to be killed last." The Reaper in the Red hoodie added

 

"Yeah, that girl had some weird necklace with a bell on it for some reason, and that other girl with the long pink hair tried to run, but I got her by aiming at her head. Well, those kids are all dead now, so I can't help but wonder if we should check and see them in the UG" The Reaper in a gray hoodie said nonchalantly

 

Neku then felt his eyes water

 

"NOOOOO! They're dead! THEY'RE REALLY DEAD! THAT'S WHY THEY DIDN"T ANSWER THEIR PHONES!" Neku thought filled with heartache

 

at that moment, at the Reaper noticed he was being watched and looked towards Neku causing him to immediately pull back behind the other side of the alley and start to run away. The red hoodie Reaper then ran after Neku with him looking behind him wondering where the other one went, only to feel himself bump into the Reaper in the gray hoodie and see him pull out a gun. Neku then gasps and sees him cock the gun, and fire making Neku collapse.

 

 

When he woke up, he then saw Joshua in front of him at Udagawa, aiming his gun at Neku while having a sinister smile and chuckling at him, and shot him. He then wakes up again and sees Joshua in front of him with the gun ready to shoot him in their duel. He fires again and Neku then opens his eyes and wakes up at the Scramble crossing and gets up again and sees his friends with their back facing him. He runs up to them and stops eager to see them

 

"Guys!" Neku said with a smile "I...I'm glad you guys are okay! I know we're back in the UG again but we can get through this again!" 

 

 

His smile then vanished as he sees them turn around showing their face, making him look at them terrified. They had Staccato Demon eyes

 

"You weren't there for me" Shiki said in a monotone voice

 

"You let me die" Rhyme said as well

 

"You abandoned us" Eri added

 

"You let us down" Beat said monotone too

 

"you left us to die" they said at the same time

 

Neku then backs away from them as they walked forward chanting "you left us to die" over and over

 

"NO!" Neku yelled "I DIDN'T DO THAT! I DIDN'T WANT ANY OF YOU TO DIE!" 

 

they then continued their chant and walked closer

 

"Shut up!" Neku cried out

 

"SHUT UP!"

 

Neku then squeezed his hair overwhelmed with anxiety as he fought back tears, making his eyes squint

 

"SHUT UUUUUUP!"

 

At that moment he was back at the throne room and his friends see Neku squeeze his hair even tighter while he screams and tears fall from his face. His friends then look at Neku filled with sadness as he then falls to his hands and knees. He then trembles on the ground filled with pain and frustration

 

"I...I thought that I had moved past all of this! I thought that It was over!" Neku cried out as tears splashed on the floor

 

Kurushii then smiled and walked towards Neku again, seeing him exhausted laying on his hands and knees

 

"Did you really think that achieving your God form would make all your problems simply vanish? That even after everything you've gone through, that this issue would simply go away? Don't be so naive. You know better than to think so foolishly. Despite how strong you've become, some issues are not resolved so easily and will take time." The Demon Lord said slyly

 

 

 he then snapped his fingers creating an aura of Smorzando demon energy making Neku scream in pain as Kurushii walked closer, he then activated his true Demon eyes. Thanks to his Demon aura making Neku feel his presence even more, now he felt extremely weak without even looking at him making Neku tremble in pain he then makes his aura go away and his eyes return to normal. He then sees Neku pant out of breath about to pass out again.

 

 

"No matter how strong I get...there will still be things I can't get past? What have I been doing all this time? What was the point...to any of this? Why? Why did I...even bother trying? No matter how much I wound Kurushii...I can't kill him. The Angel energy burns his skin apart but...I still can't kill him. My friends are trapped, there's nothing they can do to help. There's...nothing I can do. There's no point...to any of this" Neku thought feeling hopeless

 

Sensing his thoughts, Kurushii then looked at him seriously

 

"Do you see now little Fledgling? There's nothing you can do to stop me. All you're doing by resisting your fate, is allowing yourself to be filled with anguish--"

 

Kurushii then extends his left hand to Neku

 

 

"Allow me, to end your pain" He says with a little smile

 

his friends then look at Neku terrified

 

 

"We can't escape these orbs of Demon energy but there has to be something we can do!" Rhyme thought worried 

 

they then see Neku extend his hand out to Kurushii

 

"NOOOO! NEKU DON'T LET HIM KILL YOU!" Shiki screamed

 

Kurushii then helps Neku get up and his friends notice the deep sadness in Neku's eyes

 

"I...I'm so tired...I'm tired of all of this" Neku said weakly

 

"NEKU SNAP OUT OF IT!" Mr. H cried

 

 

"PHONES! NEKU! DON'T DO THIS YO! YOU AIN'T WEAK!" Beat screamed as his eyes watered

 

Kurushii then smiles

 

"Time be still" he said slyly

 

Neku then flashed back to when he fought the Conductor and how he froze Neku in place. Kurushii then fired a beam of demon energy straight through Neku's chest, aiming for his heart and unfreezes him, making Neku wail in pain and wheeze as he gasped for air, squeezing his chest as he fell forward collapsing on the ground barely conscious. 

 

"I'm surprised he's survived this long. Such an interesting little child. I'm usually able to kill spirits, even ones with high levels of imagination, much more quickly. This child's endurance is very strong. The Reapers' Game must have drastically increased the strength of his mind and soul. In some ways, he reminds me of a strong flame...but all flames die out eventually" Kurushii thought looking at the now unconscious Neku

 

 

Kurushii then becomes his Noise Dragon form, matching the one seen on the tapestries by the Demon Lord's throne chair and lets out a fearsome roar as it blasted a meteor of Smorzando Demon energy at Neku, knowing it would incinerate him.

 

"Farewell, little Fledging. Neku Sakuraba...is no more" Kurushii said after firing the meteor

 

His friends look at Neku terrified with their eyes watering, filled with desperation to help him, to save him. They then felt their Angel Auras burn as Shiki began to cry out

 

"NEKU! GET UP! PLEASE! HE'S GOING TO KILL YOU! YOU MAY HAVE GIVEN UP ON YOURSELF, BUT WE WON'T GIVE UP ON YOU! GET UP!" 

 

Her Angel energy burned even more as she cried until she opened her eyes and became her Angel form, making everyone else do the same. She then extends her hand out to him, subconsciously making a clone of herself. Getting an idea, Mr. H told everyone else to clone themselves too. Then at that moment, Beat, Rhyme and Joshua appeared as clones too beside Shiki and right when the meteor was about to hit Neku, the clones all pushed the meteor back with all the clones yelling his name'

 

"NEKU!"

 

He then felt a jolt in his body, like someone shocked him awake. He manages to lay on his hands and knees and then looked at his friends blocking the meteor of Demon energy in shock and sees the clone of Shiki's Angel form fly up to him and hug him, healing all his wounds.

 

"Shiki? Why? Why didn't you guys let me die? Can't you see I'm too weak? That no matter what we do we can't kill him?" he said weakly

 

Shiki then gently placed her right hand on his cheek making the clone become a dead person too.

 

"Because that's not the Neku I know, the Neku all of us know. Kurushii messed with your head making you feel hopeless. I know he's nearly impossible to beat without your God form, but I know you can use that form again. No matter how much he tries to knock you down and stop you, fight back! I know you can do this Neku, because you always have" she said sweetly

 

"huh?" Neku said confused

 

"The Neku I know from the UG up to now, is a really strong guy. No matter what gets thrown at you, fight. Fight like you always have" Shiki said smiling

 

The Clone Shiki then stood up and became an Angel again and the clones then all fired a massive beam of energy knocking the meteor back at Kurushii's dragon Noise form making it scream in pain. The clones then dissolve but Shiki and the others closed their eyes, then focus their energy on Neku, trying to give him a boost like the Light puck, causing him to have whiteish blue energy around him making Neku look to his left and right

 

"What? Wait...this is...the Light Puck? Some stronger version of it? Guys...thanks" Neku said weakly

 

he then looks to his left to see Anthony run up to him causing Neku to grab him by his face with Demon energy surging around him in addition to the light puck and electrocuted Anthony blasting him away. Neku then closed his eyes and opened them causing the whitish blue energy of the Super light puck to become like fire as he ran towards the Noise form and recreated his slashing psych on its legs and teleported to its face, making Kurushi try to bite him, causing Neku to teleport and dash around its head over and over slashing it.

 

Kurushi's Noise form then fired eight fire balls causing Neku to use his dash psych to dodge each one, as he did, Anthony ran towards Neku again, making Neku begin to tap into his god form, making his eyes glow gold as he trapped Anthony in a bubble of god energy.  He then fired Angel energy at Kurushii's dragon form so massive it nearly covered the entire throne room making Kurshii's Dragon Noise scream as demon energy leaked out of its body and static did too.

 

Neku then thought about Joshua, and remembered one of his attacks, causing Neku to float into the air and summoned dozens of lasers slamming into Kurushii's Noise form followed by doing Joshua's finishing move while yelling

 

"Rrrgh! YOU ARE DONE!"

 

Seeing the massive pillars of energy smash into Kurushii, tearing its body some more and making more static appear, Joshua couldn't help but smile

 

"Good work Neku. I guess I can't help but feel, flattered" Joshua thought

 

Neku then teleported back to the ground and at that moment Neku then closed his eyes recreating his Demon Lord form, making his friends look at him worried.

 

"Neku don't give into it!" Shiki cried

 

Neku then looked at her and the others and smiled

 

"Don't worry, I'm okay. As much as I wish I could deny it...

 

Neku then looks at the dragon Noise again

 

"I  _am_ a Demon Lord. But I know who I am"

 

he then roared as he slashed Kurushii so hard that more of the dragon's body was getting torn apart and then Neku became his true demon form and dove into the dragon's chest making it nearly collapse. Neku then closed his eyes again, making the Demon energy and his Demon form dissolve, and he placed his hands on his head and took a deep breath and said to himself

 

"Focus...and just...open up your senses"

 

 He then opened his eyes and then became his God form and snapped his fingers, sending a massive comet of God energy into Kurushii's dragon form and Anthony at the same time, making them scream in pain and Neku sees Anthony dissolve into orbs, and Kurushii returns to his demon form, with his Noise form destroyed and demon energy leaking out of his body as he laid on his side. Neku then powers down to his Demon Lord form and began walking towards him

 

"Nnngh! I can see why Clarissa wanted you to become a Demon Lord, your demon energy is very powerful...and it's not just that...you are a strong person as well. I...I can see how this will end" Kurushii said weakly

 

as Neku's Demon Lord form walked closer, he then generated blackish purple energy in his hand and stabbed Kurushii in the chest

 

"AAAAGH! Wha...What do you think you're doing?" Kusushii said weakly

 

"I'm breaking my connection with you. I can see it now...back when I was the current ruler of this realm...I was a monster. I tried to kill my friends and worst of all, back then, I liked it, the power...knowing how I was overwhelming them. Clarissa merely sped up the process of me becoming that, and now, I'm going to make sure I never become that way ever again" he said with a snarl

 

At that moment, Neku closed his eyes and demon energy flowed out of his chest. He then took his hand out of Kurushii's chest and his Demon energy flowed out of his chest and connected to Neku's. The moment they did, Neku's left hand became golden and his God energy then crushed Kurshii's, making the demon scream in pain while panting. This then made Neku get a headache, causing the gold energy to fade from his left hand and squeeze his hair in pain as he grunted

 

"Nnngh!" 

 

"Neku! You okay?" Shiki said worried

 

"Yeah...that jolt in my head, was the connection breaking" he said weakly

 

Neku then stood normally and generated his God energy in his hand again

 

"I can see why you're referred to as a legendary ruler. Goodbye Demon Lord Kurushii." he then became his god form one more time and blasted a massive beam of god energy at Kurushii, incinerating him within the blast

 

 


	21. Mind Over Matter

With the God energy then dissolving too Neku looked at the throne room for a few seconds, really wondering if it was over

 

“Did I...Did I...really do it?” Neku thought clenching where his ribs would be

 

As dizzy as he felt Neku then used what little strength he had left to use his God energy to break the Demon orbs his friends were stuck in by snapping his fingers. His friends then ran to him, happy that it was all over. At that moment they saw Neku give them a little thumb's up before feeling himself fall forward and close his eyes

 

 

"NEKU!" Mr. H screamed

 

As he fell forward, he felt someone catch him, holding him steady

 

"Don't worry Phones, it's over now. I'll help you feel better" he said smiling

 

he then closes his eyes and uses his Angel energy to heal Neku causing him to let go, seeing Neku able to stand on his own. He looks at his friends still a little disoriented but then feels alert again, remembering why they're so happy

 

“Phones, you did it yo!” Beat said happily

 

“Yeah! You really did, it’s finally over!” Rhyme added

 

 

“But…Eri she

 

Shiki then hanged her head and felt someone place their hand on her shoulder making her look up

 

“Don’t worry Shiki. As a Limitless God, I can do anything I want in that form. I’ll bring her back Shiki” Neku said with a little smile

 

“Thanks Neku” Shiki said weakly

 

“Don’t mention it” he said sincerely

 

The friends then all began to walk out of the Demon Lord’s thrown room only for Joshua to notice something out of the corner of his eye, black energy headed for Neku, and due to its angle, if it were to hit him, it would go through Neku’s back. Seeing what he had to do, Joshua then began to run towards Neku

 

 _“you’re like a friend to me”_  rang in his head again

 

“He’s not just some Proxy, some random boy from Tokyo that I killed, some random boy from Shibuya that I shot in the chest…not anymore. I’ve done so many horrible things, and yet they all like me. I tried to protect him from Coco shooting him, I protected him many times. Neku…I know what I need to do now” Joshua thought

 

He then ran as fast as he could

 

“Neku, Behind you!” Joshua shouted

 

Sensing the urgency in his voice, Neku and friends stop walking and turn around, Joshua then pushed Neku out of the way making him flash back to when Joshua had done the same thing shielding him from Sho’s attack

 

“Joshua!” Neku shouted

 

He then looked over his left shoulder and smiled at Neku

 

“You taught me that when we connect with others….

 

He then turned his head away from Neku and braced for impact

 

“we will do anything to keep those ties from being severed”

 

The energy then struck Joshua in the chest and went through his back, making him fall backwards as Neku caught him laying him on the ground

 

Mr. H then grew his angel wings and flew towards his friend, knowing Joshua was hurt

 

“WHY?!” Neku screamed “Why did you do this?! Dammit Joshua! I don’t understand! One minute you act like you give a rat’s ass about me, and the next it’s like I’m just some thing for you to mess with! I don’t get it! Sometimes I honestly think you hate me!”

 

“I…I’ve…never hated you” Joshua whispered

 

“Huh?” Neku said shocked

 

“It’s funny…I’ve killed people…for so long as the...Composer...and yet--

 

Joshua then coughed up orbs of his energy

 

“I’ve…never…really known…what death…feels like until now…it‘s slow…and it…hurts”

 

“Josh? Joshua don’t say that! I’ll help you get better and--

 

“N-Neku” Joshua said weakly “Do…do you…hate me?”

 

“What? Why are you--

 

“for killing you…in…Udagawa…for putting your life…in danger”

 

Neku then felt chills go down his spine and felt his eyes water

 

“No…Joshua I don’t hate you” he said weakly

 

Neku then clenched his teeth

 

“Rrrrgh! Don’t screw with me Joshua! Quit talking like this!” he roared

 

“S-Sorry…I just…wanted to tell you something…that’s all” Joshua said softly

 

“I…I’m sorry…N-Neku…for…all that…I did to you. I know now who you are”

 

“Who I am?” Neku said with a tear falling down his face

 

“it’s…been…hard for…me but…I know now…why…I…I feel…like I want you…to be safe…

 

Joshua then coughed up more orbs and wheezed before continuing

 

“You’re not…just some boy from Shibuya…anymore…some boy that I shot…in Uda…gawa anymore…N-Neku…Saku…ra…ba…I know now…that you’re…my friend. All of you...are my friends”

 

Neku and the others then looked at Joshua in shock over what they had heard and Neku felt more tears build up in his eyes

 

“NO!” Neku thought “He…he would NEVER admit this to me…he just wouldn’t! he likes to mess with people! He's never this straight forward! He wouldn’t do this unless--

 

“Joshua?” Neku said weakly

 

He then saw how Joshua’s eyes became blurry

 

“Josh?” Neku whispered

 

Neku then hanged his head, slouching as he let his arms dangle and sobbed  
  
  
  
"Why...why did you..." Neku said as his voice broke  
  
  
  
he then opened eyes and realized what he needed to do

“No…not again! Dammit! I’m not losing you! I’m not losing another friend!” he screamed squeezing his hair

 

Neku then tore open Joshua’s chest with his energy causing his weaker frequency Composer energy to leak out of him. Neku then made his hands become his Death God energy and began trying to pull the energy out of Joshua’s human form

 

“Shiki!” he shouted “I need you to make Joshua’s body again! It’s the only way to save him!”

 

“Okay, don’t worry Neku!” Shiki said firmly

 

Shiki then ran to Joshua and placed her hand on Joshua’s forehead and closed her eyes, analyzing everything that made Joshua who he is. At that very moment she then created Joshua’s human form through a refinery sigil. Neku then looked to his left to see the body ready to be sealed.

 

 

"good job Shiki" Mr. H said with a little smile

 

Mr. H then instructed Neku on what he needed to do

 

"Phones, you gotta seal Joshua's real form into the new body Shiki made. Don't worry, I'll give your energy a boost" he said reassuringly

 

 

Neku then looked at his guardian friend and nodded his head. He then pulled as hard as he could but it was hard to pull out the energy due to how it had settled in that body for so long

 

“C’mon Joshua…work with me” Neku thought

 

Determined to save him, Neku pulled even harder, Beat then joined Neku and made Angel energy engulf his hands as he helped  out Joshua's true form. As they pulled together, they then pulled Joshua's true form out of his body 

 

This then made Neku, Beat and the others except for Mr. H to surround themselves with an aura of Angel energy so they didn’t Fade.

 

Neku and  Beat then placed the Death God inside the new body causing the original Joshua to dissolve into sparks

 

Rhyme then placed her hand on Joshua's chest and wrapped him in Angel energy, se sensing how weak Joshua felt and healed him to the point that feeling went away

 

Shiki then sent a jolt of energy to Joshua’s body’s heart to start it up again, making the Composer energy go back to its higher frequency, and making the Composer open his eyes

 

“Joshua…we…we really did it” Neku thought as his hands went back to normal

 

Joshua then sat up and looked at everyone in shock

 

“How? How am I…alive….how did I surive that?” he said confused

 

“Neku…did you really--

 

“Yeah…Beat and I tore your true form from your body, Mr. H boosted the strength of my Angel energy to help me pull you out, Rhyme healed your body from feeling tired and…Shiki helped bring you back” Neku said smiling with his and his friends’ Angel auras disappearing

 

 

 

Joshua then looked at everyone, starting with Neku, Shiki, Mr. H, Beat and Rhyme, and then looked down and smiled

 

“Thanks” he said weakly

 

He then got up reassuring everyone that he was okay, and then they all flew out of the cathedral. Once they did Neku became his God form and placed a barrier around the Demon realm imprisoning them there and only allowing beings of the Higher Plane to enter in and out of the barrier. After that, Neku then opened a portal that would lead them to the Composer district

 

Once they left the portal Neku then felt a headache causing M. H to teleport to him

 

“Do you really think it’s over Phones?” Mr. H said remarking on the headache

 

“Nnngh! I…I’m not so sure now…but there’s no way he could’ve survived that unless--

 

“Unless it was all an act, that I teleported here” Anthony said darkly as he uncloaked himself

 

Neku and his friends then got ready to fight, but Anthony then snapped his fingers trapping everyone but Neku inside of demon orbs

 

Neku then hanged his head and clenched his hands into fists

 

“I’m done with losing what’s important to me to Demons” he muttered “in a way, I’m glad you trapped them there…

 

Neku then opened his eyes making his irises become gold, and get a gold aura around him, he then held out his left hand behind him towards his friends creating a barrier so they didn’t feel his God form’s energy. He then snapped his fingers and became his God form

 

“Cause now they can’t get hurt, and now…I can fight with all I‘ve got” he said darkly

 

Anthony then unleashed his true form and flew towards Neku causing him to fly towards his enemy. The two beings then fired energy at each other

 

And had their energies clash, Neku then overpowered Anthony’s energy an broke it causing him to teleport away from the energy and fly towards Neku again.

 

He merely stood there crossing his arms as he watched his enemy draw closer

 

“Neku?” Shiki thought

 

Anthony then flew towards Neku being only a few inches from his face and attempted to punch him, startled that he moved in slow motion. Neku then smiled and became lightning zooming around Anthony slashing him dozens of times amazing his friends.

 

“Damn….Phones….Neku…he’s so cool in that form yo” Beat thought

 

He then zig-zagged away from Anthony and held out his hand towards the enemy summoning asteroids from the sky causing Anthony to fly in a zigg-zag pattern dodging the asteroids.

 

The powerful demon lord then fired columns of Smorzando energy and fired them at Neku causing him to dodge the attacks. At that moment Soul Stealers appeared and flew towards Neku.

 

He crossed his arms again and merely looked at the Soul Stealers crashing them into each other with telekinesis and then fired an orb of his energy at them making it explode, blowing up the Soul stealers upon impact.

 

“is that all you’ve got? If so…then you’re good as gone” Neku said confidently making his friends smile

 

Anthony snarled and fired more energy at Neku causing him to dodge all the attacks. Neku then held out his hand towards Anthony and broke off part of the land ant threw it at Anthony causing him to blow it up with his energy.

 

He then looked up to see Neku floating above him who then fired a massive blast of energy at Anthony letting out a fearsome roar sounding similar to a lion. Having no time to react, he’s hit by the blast causing the demon to scream in pain and revert to his demon form.

 

Neku then felt a sharp jolt in his head

 

“Nnngh! It’s…already starting to hurt me?” he muttered “doesn’t matter…Nnngh I gotta use this form for a little longer”

 

He then flew towards Anthony, making the demon shoot Smorzando energy, (but due to his God form beginning to tear him apart, it began to weaken Neku) making him scream as the energy shot him in the chest, sending him crashing to the ground and became his Angel form. He then recovered in the air and flew towards Anthony.

 

He then fired his energy at Neku causing him to remember his training and dodge the energy rays.

 

Neku then fired his Angel energy at Anthony and then attempted to punch and kick him in the face doing a combo of jabs and spin kicks, making Anthony dodge them all.

 

Neku then teleports above him and shoots an orb the size of a boulder at Anthony. Once it hits ground causing it to explode, Neku looked in shock seeing that Anthony had disappeared.

 

He then floated down to the ground glancing to his left and right carefully observing the area

 

“where’d he go?” Neku thought

 

Neku was about to turn around to check behind him when he felt something. At that moment he then screamed in pain feeling someone tear out huge chuncks of his wings, followed by Smorzando energy burning his back, making Neku go crashing onto the ground rolling from the impact and reverted back to his normal form.

 

He then laid on his stomach and raised his head seeing Anthony in front of him. Anthony then snapped his fingers giving himself his blue gray aura of his true demon form making Neku scream in pain and felt his body begin to leak energy through his clothes and body again.

 

Anthony then summoned Smorzando energy in his right hand again looked at Neku with a sense of blood lust. He then swung the energy at Neku only to see him get up and squeeze Anthony’s fist (with his right hand) with his own energy making the demon look at Neku in shock.

 

“How are you…doing that?” Anthony said startled

 

“I’m not scared of you anymore…I’m not nervous or scared around demons anymore.What you’re seeing now…is what I can do when nothing holds me back” Neku snarled

 

“But you’re just a human soul…Higher Mind or not…you shouldn’t be able to do this!” Anthony said confused

 

“Exactly, there’s a lot of things I wasn’t meant to do…or shouldn’t be able to do, but that never stopped me…and that sure as hell won’t stop me now!” Neku roared

 

He then fired his energy like a blast of fire out of his left hand blasting the demon in the chest, causing Anthony to go flying rolling on the ground. He then got up and smiled

 

“Heh, how interesting, you actually managed to burn my skin…let me guess, you’re getting this strong to protect your friends or some dumb cliché like that?” Anthony said teasingly

 

“No!” Neku snapped “It was always all on me wasn’t it?! All of you freaks hunting me, trying to kill me, all of you targeted me! They got dragged into this because of me, because l couldn't handle this! It was all my fault! And they all nearly got killed because of that!"

 

Neku then looked at his friends and smiled and then looked back at Anthony 

 

"Maybe, in a way, you're right. Call it whatever you want but, I'm doing this to protect what matters to me so we can live an afterlife of peace, and so that freaks like YOU don’t do this anymore!”

 

Neku then charged at Anthony causing the demon to blast Smorzando energy at him, making Neku side step, dodging the energy as he ran and then fired his blast of energy again causing Anthony to get slammed in the chest again and land on the ground face first. Neku then sent massive explosions of his energy, blasting Anthony ten times with each blast, making Anthony scream in pain.  
  
  
As Neku blasted energy again, this blast was so immense that it completely covered Neku's view as it landed on Anthony again. While within the blast, Anthony managed to teleport behind Neku as the energy dissolved and diagonally slash him in the back, and then slash his right shoulder causing him to roll onto the ground, clenching his right shoulder wheezing in pain.

 

Anthony then revealed his Smorzando eyes making Neku scream in pain, then he created the demon smoke again, and wrapped it around Neku, smothering him until only his head, collar, a bit of his upper back,the lower half of his shorts and legs and arms showed making his cries of agony get even louder.

 

He then smiled as the smoke burned his enemy as it began to cover more of his body as it began to inch closer to his head, chest, hands and legs and his shorts barely showed. Neku's screams lessened to whimpered and moans of pain.   
  
  
  
As he whimpered in pain he looked at Anthony with his eyed halfway open and then became unconscious with his bangs covering his eyes. Seeing Neku in that state he then made the smoke begin to swallow up Neku as the smoke began to cover his face and the rest of his body. Preparing to deliver the final blow, he then made his smoke dissolve.

 

He then summoned Smorzando energy and dissolved his entire right arm filling it from the shoulder to his fingers with his true form again and made it a giant pillar of energy, preparing to deliver the final blow to Neku

 

“I’ll admit it, you’ve got guts" Anthony thought not wasting time on talking "I’ve never seen a mere Fledgling fight as hard as you did. But…it’s over now…there’s nothing you can do Neku”

  
  
he then walked closer and raised his arm preparing to strike  
  
  
"Neku" Shiki said weakly as her eyes watered  
  
  
  
his friends then looked at him filled with sorrow as Neku was about to be killed

“No matter how hard you tried…this fate was unavoidable…nothing you could’ve done would’ve changed this” Anthony said darkly while swinging the energy

 

As he swung the energy, making it just a few inches from Neku, he felt something, making the energy dissolve. He then looked in shock, as Neku pushed his mind as hard as he could and squeezed Anthony’s shirt using it to get up. His entire body trembled with pain, he ached to the point all he could to was wheeze and pant as he desperately tried to get up. Neku was past his breaking point, he should’ve stayed collapsed, but even now, he’s still pushing himself.

 

He then squeezed Anthony’s shirt even tighter eventually getting up to his chest.

 

“I’m changing everything right now” Neku said panting

 

“I don’t care…how strong you are…I’m gonna make you die!” he said strongly

 

A dark blue aura then glowed around Neku and blasted Anthony away from him. When the Demon Lord tried to get up he found himself stuck laying on his knees. He then saw Neku walk up to him and his irises were yellow and pupiless.

 

“What’re you doing?!” Anthony cried out

 

“I’m just gonna take a look at your memories, to know why all of this crap happened…to  _really_  understand all of this” Neku said seriously

 

He then placed his hand on Anthony’s forehead and saw his past when he was alive. He saw how Anthony and Clarissa grew up without a mother due to her dying giving birth to Clarissa. They grew up with their dad until they were at the ages of twelve (Clarissa) and thirteen (Anthony) their dad died in a car crash causing the siblings to be put in a foster home.

 

They were both eventually adopted, but to different families and never saw each other again until they were at the ages of 15 and 16 although it was sheer luck, they went to different high schools that were close to each other. After a few years passed and when they were adults they rented an apartment so they could live together, to be siblings again.

 

But after a few months of living in the apartment, Clarissa died in a car crash while on her way to go grocery shopping. Anthony filled with grief died filled with heartache

 

Once they died and entered the afterlife finally reunited, Anthony was very protective of his sister, and wanted to become an Angel to protect her from demons.

 

_“you’re all that I have left Kiyuki…that’s why we need to stick together, we’re finally a family again”_

Neku then saw how they went from being angels to demons and saw how after his friends had saved him from Clarissa and brought him back, that Anthony was there in the throne room sobbing over his sister’s death saying

 

 _“I’ll make them pay…no…it was that girl with the glasses, Shiki…I’ll make her suffer”_ making the vision end.

 

“Do you see now?” Anthony said weakly with a tear going down his right cheek “She was all that I had left…now she’s gone. It hurts. She was my family, Kiyuki...we played games together. Laughed together, cried together, she's all that I had”

 

Filled with empathy Neku then hanged his head

 

“I…I understand now, it really did hurt you…losing the only family you had left…but still...why take it out on me? That wouldn’t bring her back. I don’t have siblings so…I wouldn’t know how that feels...to lose your sister...or brother…but I do know…that you’re insane and need to be stopped”

  
_  
_

Neku then teleported to his friends with his back facing them and placed his hands on his head concentrating. Before their very eyes, Neku had then brought back Eri as a soul again.

 

Feeling nervous Anthony used his mind to trap her in a bubble causing her to regain consciousness inside it.

 

“Open up, your senses” Neku said quietly

 

Neku then held out his hands focusing on his friends’ energies

 

“Guys…I need you all to focus your thoughts and energy on me…I’m gonna do a Pact” he said mentally

 

“What?! But fusing your Soul with that many energies could overload you Neku!” Shiki cried out

 

“Yeah man, this ain’t a good idea yo!” Beat shouted

 

“Guys…I know how risky this is, I…I can feel it…I know what that could do to me, I don’t want to take that risk but…I’m out of options, my God form was starting to kill me” Neku said sternly

 

His friends then looked at each other and Joshua nodded his head

 

“he’s right guys, if Neku were to use his God form again after it already began to overwhelm his Soul, it could destroy him. he’s already used a lot of its energy. He can only use that form for a certain amount of time before it starts to hurt him. Right now this is his best option, and if anything happens to Neku, we’ll be here to make him better” Joshua said reassuringly

  
  
  
"yeah Joshua's right guys" Mr. H added "It's too risky for Phones to use his God form again right now, he'll be okay"

“Shiki…you trust me...right?” Neku asked

 

“Yeah” she said sweetly “We’re here for you Neku”

 

His friends then closed their eyes and all focused their energy and thoughts on him, causing Neku to close his eyes.

 

He then had pillars of his friends’ energy surround him starting with Shiki’s energy, Joshua’s toned down (aka light blue) Composer energy, Beat’s energy, and then Rhyme’s yellow orange energy, Eri’s pinkish-purple energy, and Mr. H’s silver energy all flowed around him.

 

Neku then opened his eyes and held out his right hand as the pillars of energy all swirled together to make seven orbs orbiting around an orb of his own energy.

 

The energies then merged becoming a huge bowling ball sized orb that then fired strands of everyone’s energy slashing Anthony which then flew back into the orb and recreated the skull from the Player Pin design.

 

At that moment Neku winced feeling his entire left forearm burn due to it leaking his energy as darkblue cracks on him

 

“Just a little more” Neku thought

The skull then grew a black mist around it and the player pin skull grew fangs, bright red eyes and roared as it flew towards Anthony, it then grew skeletal hands and held a scythe

 

“The…Angel of Death?” Anthony whispered

 

The Grim Reaper then swung his scythe making Anthony dissolve into orbs, making Neku‘s friends float down to the ground.

 

The Death Angel then flew to Neku causing him to look in shock, unsure if it was going to kill him and then saw Death bow to him (sensing Neku’s Ultimate God energy) and then dissolved.

 

His friends then looked concerned as they saw parts of his shirt leaking energy, he was covered in cuts, his clothes were torn and his legs were covered in darkblue cracks.

 

“Neku!” they shouted as they ran to him

 

He then turned around smiling a little, but then panted out of breath.

 

“You okay?” Shiki asked worried

 

“Yeah…I’m fine I just--

 

Neku then looked down at his arms seeing cuts on them become white outlined in darkblue.

 

Before they knew it more of his body leaked energy causing Neku to nearly pass out

 

Neku then fell forward with Beat catching him, making Neku piggyback ride him

 

“Dontchu worry man, your brother's here” Beat said hiding his concerns

 

“Beat” Neku whispered

 

He then walked holding onto Neku following Mr. H and the others and laid Neku on the floor and his friends stared in horror seeing his entire body become the second to last layer of energy, causing his shirt to glow blue and his hair to become pale again and the rest of his body being white outlined in blue.

 

“No! Don’t worry Neku, I’ll seal your Soul in your body and--

 

“No, not like this” Mr. H said sternly “In order for energy to be stored within a human, it has to be at its full strength or else the energy, his soul, could just fizzle out inside the body. He has to be healed first”

 

Shiki, understanding what needed to be done became her Angel form.

 

“Okay, then I’ll help him get better” Shiki said sadly

 

“And I’ll work on strengthening his mind” Mr. H said seriously also going full blast

 

She then placed her hands on  Neku’s chest generating her Angel energy to heal Neku. But his soul broke apart at such a fast pace, that he can barely react to anything anymore.

 

All he could do was listen, as he laid with his eyes closed.

 

“Neku…Neku please don’t go!” Shiki whimpered

 

“Haven’t I…heard that…before?” Neku thought

 

“ **Come on, stay with me**  Phones” Mr. H imprinted

 

As much as she poured her energy into Neku, he was at such a weak state that his energy began to tear through his clothes and distorted his hair becoming the last layer of energy being white outlined in darkblue.  

 

“NO!” Shiki cried “PLEASE! Neku you have to stay strong, please…I can only do so much!”

 

She then extended out her wings causing them to surge with Angel energy

 

“Please Neku” Shiki whimpered as she cried “Don’t leave me...don't leave us”

  
  
As Neku began to shut down he then flashed back to when he was going to meet his new friends at Hachiko  
  
  
_"hey, did I mention? I've got friends now. We're getting together for the first time in a week."_

Mr. H imprinted again but still had no response from Neku, now he wasn’t even able to think, he was just there.

 

Sensing this, Joshua hanged his head with his hands in his pockets, seeing how sad Joshua looked, Eri’s eyes began to water, causing the same thing to happen to Beat and Rhyme

 

“He’s not gonna make it” Eri whispered

 

“NEKU!” Mr. H imprinted “ **Don’t give up**  like this,  **you’re stronger than this** , come on Phones!  **Enjoy the moment more**  remember?!”

 

Shiki then began to pant out of breath from sending so much energy into him causing Eri to go full blast and switch with Shiki.

 

Again the process continued, and again no response from Neku. Their voices were distant and muffled as if Neku was underwater.

 

“ **Don’t wait to die** , please… **you have to want to survive**  Neku” Mr. H imprinted again  **“I know you’re exhausted and worn out but**  please,  **fight a little longer**! You have to!”

 

More orbs leaked out of Neku’s chest, arms and legs making his friends feel tears drift down their faces. Beat, Rhyme and Joshua then all tried healing Neku at the same time and still nothing changed.

 

Seeing how bleak everything was for Neku, Mr. H knew what he had to do

 

He made his right hand dissolve into energy and placed it on Neku’s forehead.

 

“I’ll boost his mind with my imprints, I’ll strengthen it with imprints even stronger than the ones in my graffiti. In order to save Neku…I have to do that, it should help him hang on. If he can't do this himself, that he's that exhausted then…this will be his last chance” Mr. H thought worried

 

He then closes his eyes and unleashes his strongest imprint on Neku

 

**“open up your world”**

 

Mr. H then pushed Neku’s soul’s mind to that of an Angel, but due to how tired and weak Neku was his soul broke apart causing Shiki to run up to Neku tears streaming down her face

 

“NEKUUUUU! PLEASE DON’T--

 

His friends, stricken with grief than all saw Neku dissolve until all that remained were four little orbs


	22. Old Memories

Shiki felt her legs give out on her as she fell to her knees, she didn’t want to see it, or believe it was real, and yet she felt anger and sadness all surging inside her. It was to the point even Mr. Mew rolled into a ball burying its face within its stubby paws.

 

It was silent, grief filled the air and everyone wept but, quietly not wanting to hear anything. All of Neku’s friends then just hanged their heads crying as their sadness overwhelmed them. With the exception of Joshua who hanged his head

 

As they grieved Shiki felt her body burn as he demon energy began to corrupt her gaining a black aura around her.

 

“No” She whimpered “I don’t want to lose myself either”

 

The demon energy then went back inside her. They began to wipe their tears not wanting to open their eyes knowing that Neku was gone, but they knew they had to. Rhyme was the first to open her eyes and looked in shock

 

“What?! But…but I thought that when a Soul Fades away that they vanish, without a trace” she thought confused

 

“Guys!” she shouted “look! Neku’s still here!”

 

“Rhyme…that’s not possible he Faded” Eri said sadly

 

“C’mon just look guys, open your eyes!” Rhyme persisted

 

They then did as she suggested and sure enough the four orbs, the last fragments of Neku’s Soul remained, even the other energies within him revealed themselves orbiting the orbs

 

“Neku?” Shiki said weakly getting to her feet “But…how did he? Mr. H? is that what your Imprint did? The one that was Open Up Your World?”

 

The other friends then all got to their feet as well

 

Mr. H then smiled and rubbed his neck

 

 

“Heh, you bet. That’s what that Imprint was intended to do you know? If Phones couldn’t find the strength he needed then, I wanted to give him one last push” he said smiling

 

“Well then come on! If Neku’s still here, then maybe we can save him!” Eri said hopeful running towards Neku’s broken soul

 

Mr. Mew then jumped up and down and ran after her, Shiki then smiled at Beat, Joshua and Mr. H and then ran after Eri with them following her

 

Once they got close enough, Neku’s friends stopped running cautious to not touch Neku’s energy.

 

“Careful, we don’t want to accidently unleash energy on these remaining pieces. If even one of the orbs dissolve, then Neku’s Soul will be incomplete” Joshua said cautiously

 

He then placed his left hand over his mouth and had his right hand in his back pocket

 

“In all honesty, I’m not sure if it’s even possible to bring him back. I’ve never had to rebuild a Soul this broken up. Even when Rhyme was erased, her mind was completely intact. Although her Soul wasn't, it still wasn't as broken as the way Neku is right now, Plus Mr. H was there and he helped reconstruct her soul, making it easier for me to bring her back to life and for me to make her body again." Joshua said sternly

 

“Yeah that's right! I remember Mr. H bringing that up during our Angel training” Shiki said happily

 

"I also was there to go home with Joshua" Mr. H added

 

Mr. H then walked closer to Neku’s energy and held out his hand feeling Neku’s presence

 

“Good” He said smiling “As weak as he is right now, my Imprint is helping him hang on. If we’re gonna save Phones, we’ll have to gentely gather the remaining pieces of his energy and put them back together, so we can start the proces of repairing Neku’s soul. In all honesty, I’ve never had to repair energy this close to Fading…but I know that we’ve got a shot at this”

 

He then glowed a white aura causing the orb in front of him to get pulled towards him like a magnet.

 

“Go on now, once we collect the fragments, we then need to place them beside each other. This’ll cause Neku’s orbs to fuse together so we can make more layers to his soul” Mr. H said instructing them

 

“Huh? For someone who’s never done this before you seem to know a lot about it” Eri said confused

 

Mr. H then chuckled

 

“Well I know how energy works, so I have an idea of how to do this” the angel clarified

 

Each one of Neku’s friends then summoned their Angel auras and held out their hand to Neku’s orbs carefully bringing the orbs near each other. Joshua then summoned a gray aura of Composer energy and held out his hand attracting the other energies to him.

 

They then placed the orbs beside each other, and Joshua added the other energies. The orbs then inched closer to each other causing Neku’s other energies to flow towards each other. Once they all made contact, they then merged together forming an orb the size of a basket ball.

 

Mr. H then held out his hand towards the orb causing it to be given form. Before their very eyes, the white orb outlined in darkblue became the last layer of energy, though chunks of his body were missing like he had holes in his limbs. A mere side effect of Neku’s broken state

 

“So, now what?” Eri asked

 

“Now I’ll fix the holes on Neku’s energy” Mr. H replied

 

He generated his healing energy on Neku’s soul and tried to make it stronger, by doing this it allowed his soul to heal making his arms and legs stabalize.

 

The Guardian Angel then got on his knees sitting beside Neku, who was now on the ground, and generated his wings and placed them on Neku’s energy making him heal to the point he became his second layer of energy.

 

Being able to look at it closely Shiki pondered something

 

“Mr. H, this layer that Neku’s in…it looks familiar. I know we’ve seen his Soul distort to this point before but, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it elsewhere too before any of this”

 

Mr. H then looked at her and smiled

 

“well it ought to, remember when you made a Pact with Phones in the UG, and how Pacts fuse your mind and soul with your partner?”

 

“yeah I do” she replied

 

“Well as you know when accepting the pact it triggers a flashing light, a vision to appear. Did you notice how that vision had you and Phones with a blueish tint? That vision was representing your mind and soul merging with Phones”

 

“Whoa” Shiki said astonished

 

"But then what about Joshua?" Shiki asked "Did Neku see that same vision when forging a Pact with him?"

 

 

"Yup" Mr. H awnsered "But unlike his Pact with you and Beat, Joshua's soul is at a higher vibe frequency, that being a Composer, the vision saw Neku saw was Joshua's soul at a lower frequency."

 

 

Shiki then smiled

 

 

"Heh, that makes sense" she said happily

 

Starting to feel tired from using so much energy, Mr. H then traded places with Shiki, who helped heal Neku’s soul. Soon all of his friends took turns using their Angel energy to help rebuild Neku’s Soul (with the exception of Joshua not being an Angel, obviously used Composer energy to help stabilize Neku)

 

After everyone took turns, it was then back to the Guardian Angel to heal Neku. Mr. H then closed his eyes and focused his energy even more making Neku’s clothes begin to lose their blueish tint. The friends watched filled with eagerness as his soul stabilized. Darkblue patches grew on Neku’s 2nd layer eventually becoming his transparent skin.

 

“Neku!” Beat said ecstatic

 

“Mr. H you did it!” Rhyme said happily

 

He then opened his eyes dissolving his wings and his energy.

 

“Now just one more thing left to do. I’m gonna double check and make sure Phones is okay” Mr. H said smiling

 

He dissolved his right hand of his human form making it become Angel energy and placed it on Neku’s chest opening it to check on his Soul Code, and the other energies within him

 

“Good, Phone’s energy is now ready for the final process” Mr. H said relived fixing Neku’s chest

 

“Now then, Shiki, you remember what to do next don’t you?”Joshua said while twirling his hair

 

Shiki then smiled

 

“Yup…give me some space guys”

 

The friends then backed away from her (including Mr. H) and Shiki glowed with Angel energy. She then held out her left hand followed by snapping her fingers creating a refinery sigil and it revealed Neku’s human form. Beat, knowing what this means, couldn’t help but feel his eyes water, filled with joy that Neku was okay

 

She then held her right hand out to Neku attracting him to her Angel energy and guided his soul to his body, making it regain color. Feeling overwhelmed with emotion Beat then walked up to Neku, sat beside him and held his right hand

 

“Neku…he’s gonna be okay now…right Shiki? He’s…my lil’ brother yo. He’s jus’ gotta be okay” Beat said with tears streaming

 

at first she looked at him in shock remembering how the only times Beat would ever get so emotional is from seeing Neku almost die in the multiple versions of the Angels' Game

 

 

Shiki then smiled and placed her hand on Beat’s shoulder

 

 

“Yeah, Neku’s safe again Beat. All we have to do now his bring his body to life” Shiki said sweetly

 

Beat then smiled letting go of Neku’s hand and saw her get on her knees sitting towards Neku’s left side, and placed her left hand on Neku’s chest sending a jolt of energy to his heart

 

“Nngh” Neku grunted

 

He then opened his eyes. The sun of the afterlife Shibuya made him wince as his eyes regained focus. He then held out his left hand to block its rays of light when he noticed something.

 

“My hand” he thought “it isn’t transparent?”

 

He then sat up shocked that he was alive, that he had survived nearly facing Soul Obstrution.

 

“I…I’m alive?” He said confused

 

Shiki and all his other friends smiled at him

 

“Yeah…you’re finally okay Neku” Shiki said sweetly

 

“We all worked together to rebuild your soul” Eri added

 

“Rebuild my Soul?” Neku repeated

 

“You nearly broke apart Neku…that six-way Pact you made had such a strain on your energy that you Faded into orbs. If it wasn’t for Mr. H’s imprint, you would’ve completely dissolved” Joshua said sternly

 

“So we all took turns healin’ you yo” Beat said smiling

 

“But in order for you to be able to interact with your friends again, you can’t be alive” Mr. H pointed out

 

“Oh right” Neku remarked

 

“hey Neku” Shiki exclaimed “can you laydown for a sec? I’ll make it painless I promise”

 

Neku then smiled at Shiki

 

“Sure no problem” he said sincerely

 

He then laid down and closed his eyes. Shiki then generated her energy and aimed towards the top of Neku’s head, but before she could fire, someone had intervined

 

“No, no, no, you’re doing it wrong” Joshua exclaimed with his hands in his back pockets

 

Neku then opened his eyes and sat up

 

“Your aim was off Shiki. This is a job for a Death God” he said pulling his hair back, something that couldn’t help but make Neku feel nervous

 

“Joshua…what’re you planning?” Neku said worried

 

The Composer then closed his eyes and held out his right hand summoning a pistol. Making a now anxious Neku rise to his feet

 

“Joshua! What’re you--

 

He then cocked the gun and fired at Neku’s head making it go hurdling back from the impact before crashing onto the ground, the moment it did, Neku’s soul came flying out of his body as a darkblue beam and then materialized into his normal form floating in the air

 

“What the hell was that for?!” Neku roared shaking his fist “Why did you--

 

“Neku look down” Joshua remarked

 

He then looked down and saw his body

 

“wait a minute…so THAT’s why he shot me?! Rrrgh! Seriously…couldn’t he have freed my Soul another way?” Neku thought as he looked at the dead body

 

Joshua then snapped his fingers making the body and his gun dissolve.

 

“Hee hee. Welcome back Neku” Joshua said actually being sincere

 

Mr. H then walked up to Neku smiling as usual as Neku floated down to the ground standing in front of the Angel

 

“So, how do ya feel Phones?” he said relieved

 

“I…I feel fine. Everything’s all better” Neku said smiling

 

“So…now what?” he said curious

 

“Heh, now what kinda question is that?” Mr. H said patting Neku’s head seeing his confusion

 

“You can do whatever you want now Neku… _You’re free"_

 

Neku was thrown into shock, his eyes widened and his irises shook

 

“I…after all this time…I’m…I’m really” he thought overwhelmed

 

Without a sound Neku then wrapped his arms around the Angel, startling him at first…but then smiled and wrapped his arms around Neku. Mr. H could sense how grateful Neku was.

 

“I couldn’t have done this without you…thank you” Neku he said softly

 

Mr. H smiling, from sensing how relived Neku was patted his back

 

“You’re welcome…just doing my job heh heh”

 

He then lets go of Neku causing him to do the same.

 

“Guys” Neku said weakly

 

“Do you mind if I have some time to myself? There’s some things I need to think about”

 

Shiki then smiled seeing how although it was a lot for him to deal with, she was happy that Neku was okay again

 

“Sure Neku, feel free to hangout with us when ever you want okay?” she said sweetly

 

“Yeah…thanks” He said smiling

 

He then leaped into the air and floated back to his house

 

Shiki and friends then all watched him glide and smiled happy that Neku was going to relax. He then walked into his house and took off his shoes as he entered.

 

He then walked into the house and examined the home. He walked into his living room charging up energy in his left hand…but no one was there. Neku then lets the energy dissolve and slowly crept to his kitchen growing demon claws.

 

He hid behind a wall and lunged towards the room…still nothing. He then lets his claws dissolve. Just to be safe Neku then opened up cabinets in the Kitchen

 

“Nothing?” he thought

 

Neku then snapped his fingers closing all the cabinets. The concerned little ghost then glided up the stairs and headed towards his room. He then flew to the ground and stood in his room smiling a little

 

“it’s really over” he said weakly

 

He then walked towards the dresser in his room and opened the top right drawer revealing a thin black rectangular box. He then opened it revealing the uncrushed Player Pin and a few other pins from the Reapers’ Game. He kept a few of them as a sort of reminder that it was all real. He then grabbed the Player pin and walked back to his bed and simply laid on it looking at the pin.

 

“Heh…I remember now…that day, when I got everything back. I was…brought back to life…thanks to you Joshua” Neku thought

 

He then flashed back to that fateful day, after his duel with Joshua in the UG. He woke up in Shibuya and trembled with rage as he laid on his knees. He wasn’t sure what to think…but one thing.

 

_“Why?” Neku muttered_

_Neku was then filled with so much anger and confusion that he cried and stood up yelling as loud as he could:_

_“WHAT THE HELL?!”_

_As tears flew from his face and the word “hell” echoed in the air, he opened his eyes and saw people looking at him. Neku then quickly hid his face and hid his hands in his pockets_

_“they…they heard me?! They SAW ME?! But then…that means that I’m--_

_His eyes then widened and he ran back towards his house_

_“What did they hear about me?! Do they even know that I died?! I gotta get home…but…what the hell would I tell them?! There’s no way they’d believe me! Rrrrgh! Alright, I’ll have to tell them only parts of what happened to me, so they don’t think I’m crazy!” he thought_

_Once he approached his house Neku couldn’t help but feel hesitant, he then approached the door and knocked on it. Due to it being a weekend, and both parents had left work, his mother opened the door and was filled with shock. She became pale as if she was dead._

_“No…this…this just isn’t…_

_“Masato!” she cried “Come here, I don’t believe this…please…you need to come!”_

_Hearing her voice begin to break, Neku’s dad ran to the front door a_   _nd saw his son._

_“But…we…were told that gunshots were reported at Udagawa…we…we just thought you--_

_Never being one to show affection, Masato then pulled Neku towards him and hugged him startling him at first but then Neku wrapped his arms around his dad_

_“Neku! My…my son! How?! How did you survive?!” he roared he then lets go of Neku_

_His mother then hugged him too, wrapping her arms around Neku_

_“we reported that you went missing after you never came home after going to Udagawa! What happened?!” his mother cried_

_She then let go and allow Neku to explain_

_“Well…what you guys heard was true…there were gunshots in Udagawa. Two of ‘em, with me in the middle of it all but…_

_It was here that Neku wasn’t sure what to say, so_   _he would_   _keep somethings out and then reveal the whole truth to them some other time. He didn’t want to lie to them, but he knew if he said the whole truth that it’d be too much for them to handle, especially if they didn’t experience it for themselves, so he decided to tell the truth but…with a play on words._

_“I…remember everything getting black…then the next thing I knew…I woke up in the Scramble Crossing and I woke up with a pin in my hand” he explained_

_Neku’s mom then hanged her head_

_“so you were shot weren’t you?” she said sadly_

_“Yeah but…anyways…there’s more to it than that. When I woke up in the Scramble Crossing, I saw I had a Pin in my hand…_

_Neku then reached into his pocket and pulled out the Player Pin and held it out to his parents_

_“This is the Player Pin, all people participating in the Game are supposed to keep one. That Game took place in Shibuya, and usually starts at the Scramble Crossing…the Game I was forced to play was called The Reapers’ Game. The other Players all had to partner up and were forced to complete missions that were texted to our cell phones” he added_

 

_“I…I met a lot of people,” Neku said smiling_

_He then told them about Shiki and the first week. Seeing how their son opened up to her and befriended her made them very happy especially since they know he hated being around people, so they were glad that he was being less anti-social. Something that always frustrated and annoyed them about their son, causing them to get into arguments with Neku especially when it came to how it interfered with his school work_

 

“So…the people who ran this game are called Reapers, you had to fight the strongest Reaper at the last day of the Game…and then whoever has the most points at the end of the Reapers’ Game wins, and they’re out of the Game?” Neku’s dad asked

 

_“Yeah” Neku replied “But…since my partner, since Shiki won…I had to play the Game again and get a new partner…with her as my entry fee meaning…if…I…_

_Neku then hid his face in his funnel collar and placed his hands in his pockets putting the player pin back in his pocket_

_“_   _f I screwed up, I’d lose my entry fee and Shiki…would probably have to play the Game again...I...I got her dragged back into it” he said weakly_

_Now here came the hard part…telling his parents about the real goal of the Reapers’ Game_

_“So what happens when you win the Reapers’ Game?” Neku’s mom asked_

_“this is insane…there’s no way they’d, believe me, …this just doesn’t happen but…I’m their son…they’ll trust me…I know they do” he thought_

_“You…you’re brought back to life” Neku responded_

_He then lifted his head to see his parents looking at him confused_

_“What?! Neku…that’s not possible, once you die…that’s it” Neku’s dad exclaimed_

_“Neku” his mom said worried “Did…you get high?”_

_“WHAT?!” Neku shouted shocked_

_“Did they drug you in Udagawa?! What you’re saying doesn’t make sense!” his mom shouted_

_“Mom, nothing happened! I know it sounds insane, I really do! But PLEASE, you have to believe me!” he shouted_

_“I know I can’t prove it to you, but the Reapers’ Game is REAL! If it wasn’t then how would I have that Player pin?! That pin can't be bought at any store! It was made specifically for the Reapers' Game!” Neku said desperately_

_“I know this is a lot for you all to take in, that it sounds like some sort of Battle Game you'd see on tv but--_

_Neku’s mom then pulled him towards her and hugged him_

_“All that matters now is that you’re home” she said sweetly_

_“Thanks mom…but…there’s still more” he said shyly_

_“Like what?” she said pulling him away_

_He then explained the second and third week to them (with a few exceptions like not telling them about Joshua somehow disappearing to look like he was erased, or how in the third week he learned that Joshua was the Composer)_

_“I can’t believe it” his dad said shocked “Shiki, Beat, Joshua, Rhyme and that Mr. H fellow seems to have helped you through so much…I’m glad you met them Neku. So…where are they? You know, your partners?”_

 

_Neku then smiled and chuckled_

_“Heh heh, they’re probably all with their families again, like how I am” he said smiling_

_Then after that talk, Neku told his parents he was going to rest in his room. As he relaxed in his bed, he gasped in shock and immediately pulled out his cellphone assuming it to be a mission_

_“Huh?…oh…yeah that’s right…it’s over now” Neku thought as he checked his cell phone_

_It was his first day back in the RG. It was hard for all of them to get used_   _to. His mom, out of worry for her son, told Neku to not go to Udagawa anymore…at least not for a week. They never saw each other, any of the former Players. He remembered on the second day back in the RG when he got home his mother hugged him saying_

_“I love you Neku”_

 

_Neku was still getting used to both his parents showing affection towards him so often, something that was still a little awkward for Neku, but, he then smiled and hugged her too_

_“I love you too mom”_

_He could only imagine how their parents felt, thinking that their only child was dead, and how much that must’ve hurt them. It was something that never crossed his mind in the UG, back then he thought he just annoyed his parents making him feel like they didn't really like him. But now, seeing how much they really missed him, he couldn't help but think about that._

 

_He’d walk around Shibuya wondering where his friends were, but just like him, they were all spending time with their families. He also remembered being late to school a few times due to not adjusting to his normal life again._

_As the second day continued he relaxed and had snacks and walked around the city but not going around Udagawa_

 

_On the third day, he almost forgot to go to school and it was the same old thing, go to school walk around the city, then go home. His life was now a normal routine, no Noise to kill, no Reapers to fight, just sweet normalcy. The fourth day back Neku would sometimes check his hand wondering why he didn't have a timer on his right hand._

 

_"huh? oh yeah...I don't have it cause I beat the Reapers' Game" Neku thought_

_On the fourth day, he walked around the city again thinking about his friends. the same thing happened on the fifth day since he didn't see them at school. They were all struggling to adjust to their lives again that it was difficult to even just get to their classes on time. the same thing happened on the sixth day back in the RG. but then, after the seventh day, something happened threw off his routine, finally, after one week, it changed._

 

_Neku went to school and then headed to his favorite spot in the city, Udagawa. He then thought about all the things that happened to him as he walked around the city, and remembered how much his friends helped him._

_“I’m really glad I met you guys…you made me…pick up on things I probably would’ve just gone on ignoring”_

_Neku then remembered how his thoughts became targeted at Joshua_

_“and hey…did I mention? I‘ve got friends now…we‘re getting together for the first time in a week…see you there?” he thought in his head_

_As he walked to the Hachiko statue he then heard Rhyme call out him, he walked up to them and remembered Rhyme showing Neku her pendant, how she was saying how she was glad that Neku got that back for her, and how she’s grateful for Neku helping Beat, something that made the tough guy get a little emotional causing him to turn away from Neku with his eyes watering. Once he noticed Neku looking at him he then gave Neku a nuggie making the fiery-haired teen smile and laugh_

 

_After that they continued talking to each other when he suddenly felt someone tap his back, making Beat and Rhyme smile. Once Neku turned around he couldn’t help but join in, giving a warm, kind smile to the person that was behind him._

_“Shiki” he thought_

_For the first time since the Reapers’ Game, everyone saw what she really looks like. They all smiled and high fived each other filled with joy to be with each other again. As they all talked to each other Shiki couldn’t help but ask Neku what does he think of her, if he likes the real her. This caused Neku to smile at her saying:_

 

_“You look great”_

_They then discussed what to do now, causing Rhyme to suggest that they merely walk around the city. such an idea made Neku give her a thumbs up making her smile, saying that was a great idea. They all smiled overwhelmed with joy to be with each other._

 

 

_As the friends were about to walk around the city Neku told them to wait a minute. They then turned around to see Neku’s back facing them. He then felt his bangs cover his eyes, and he gently pulled his headphones from his head and placed them down behind him._

 

_His friends could help but smile seeing what looked like tears sparkling in the light as they flew behind him. He then turned around smiling at his friends_

_“You sure you want to leave them?” Shiki asked_

_“Yeah…I don’t want to push the world away anymore…cause…I’ve got friends now”_

_The flashback then ended with Neku and his new friends walking together as he told them how he’s glad that he met them_

_"I'll never forget how you were all there for me" he said smiling_

_"Neku...you really mean it?" Shiki said happily_

 

_he then turned to her and smiled_

_"Yeah, I was actually thinking about this while I was walking to Hachiko and...now I want to tell you all what it was: I'm really glad I met you guys. You made me pick up on things I would've just gone on ignoring"_

 

 

Laying on his bed Neku closed his eyes and sniffled a little from feeling a tear go down his face.

 

“I owe…so much to them…to all of them…and now, I have all eternity with my friends…man, that’s…so rad. I guess that’s an upside to dying” he thought

 

Neku then got up and was about to place the player pin back in the box, but just out of curiosity tried something. He tossed the pin in the air, caught it, and then placed his hands on his head closing his eyes

 

“Open up, your senses” he said softly

 

But nothing happened

 

He then lowerd his hands back down smiling at the pin

 

“Heh heh, I guess it really does only work in the UG” he thought.

 

He then placed it back in the box and phased through the walls of his house and ended up in Shiki’s living room

 

“Shiki” he said telepathically “Do you mind if we talk?”

 

Shiki, sewing yet again, couldn’t help but smile sensing how relaxed Neku’s energy was

 

“Heh sure Neku, I’m in my room sewing” she said mentally

 

He then floated to her room and saw he sewing Mr. Mew, amongst all the chaos fighting Anthony and Sho’s Taboo Noise form Mr. Mew and received scratches tearing the toy up making cotton come out of it. Neku then flew through the wall and ended up in Shiki’s room.

 

“Man, you’re Piggy got pretty messed up from all that fighting” Neku said scratching his head

 

“yeah, but this is easy to fix. even though I could just cheat and supernaturally fix him by using my imagination” Shiki said smiling

 

She then placed the needle and thread down

 

Neku then glided to her and sat on her bed

 

“well don’t stop just cause I’m here, I know how much this little doll means to you. Something that important, should be kept in perfect condition” Neku said sternly with his left hand by his head

 

Shiki then looked up at him and smiled

 

“Okay…heh thanks Neku”

 

She then started fixing the toy’s left arm

 

“So what’s up?” she said sweetly

 

“well…I’ve thought about some stuff lately, I was thinking about the Reapers’ Game, how we all got back to the RG and all of that stuff…and I remembered something that came to me as a dream when I played the Angels’ Game” Neku answered

 

“I remember us being in the Composer’s Pad and…there was Shades…he was there ready to kill us and you said something like…I know this place, it’s him…

 

Neku then hanged his head hiding his face

 

“Shiki…when he tricked us saying you were gonna go to the RG…what did he  _really_  do?”

 

Shiki, still sewing, then told Neku what she remembered

 

“I remember now…after we were in the white room and I was flying away from you…I reached out my hand to you, and you smiled at me doing the same thing” Shiki said bashfully blushing a little

 

“then once I flew away from you, I remembered being teleported to the Composer’s Pad. I saw him there, the Conductor! I asked him what was going on…

 

She then flashed back to what happened

 

_“I thought I was going back home, back to the real me. You said I won the Game, so how come I’m in this place? What’s going on?!” Shiki roared confused_

 

_Megumi then chuckled_

_“Certain changes, have occurred Shiki” he said darkly_

_“Certain changes? what’re you--_

_Before she could finish he teleported behind her freezing her in place, letting out his creepy little laugh. He then attacked her in the back of her head. The Conductor then unfroze Shiki allowing her to fall face first on the ground. Megumi then rolled her onto her side and placed the Red Skull pin on her._

_“Good, now I can use her for my plan if necessary” he thought_

_Megumi then teleported Shiki to the Shibuya river where she remained frozen in place, in an almost coma-like state until Beat and Neku arrived there_

 

“After he hit me…I’m not sure what happened but…I remember waking up in the Shibuya River” Shiki said discouraged

 

“Shiki” Neku said weakly “I’m sorry…based off of what you said, and then what happened when all three of us were there…I think I know what he wanted to do, why you were there”

 

“really?” Shiki said looking up at him

 

“Yeah…think about it, after we got there, you started to scream and were possessed by that pin. He had you under his control…put that together with what his deal with Joshua was, and what my roll in Joshua’s plan was…and it all makes sense. Joshua used me to win the bet so he could destroy Shibuya, and since Shades didn’t want that to happen, the only way to stop that…would be by killing me” Neku said darkly

 

Shiki then stopped sewing and hanged her head

 

“he used me…he…must’ve put that pin on me after he knocked me out. He used me…to kill you” Shiki said sadly

 

She then felt very guilty

 

“and then the same thing happened again thanks to Anthony, he controlled me”

 

Neku then placed his hand on Shiki’s shoulder making her look up at him

 

“Shiki, none of that was your fault. When both of those things happened, you were under someone’s control…I know you didn’t mean it. That’s the same way I was after all” Neku said smiling

 

Shiki then looked up at him smiling back

 

“thanks Neku, but do you really think I can control it? I don’t want to lose myself to the energy. I’ve already seen what it does to people…what it did to you” she said sadly

 

“Definitely, I know you can cause the fact that you’re not not exactly at my level of imagination and yet the energy hasn’t destroyed your soul, what you are now, already proves that” Neku said reassuringly

 

She then smiled at him and continued sewing. Analyzing the thread and needle Neku couldn’t help but smile as he watched her

 

“How does she not prick her finger while doing that?” he thought in his head

 

Hearing that thought made Shiki smile seeing how he was curious about how she’s so good at sewing

 

After they talked a bit, Shiki sensed something causing her to close her eyes

 

“oh, okay…heh sure I’ll tell him” she said mentally

 

“what’s up? You okay?” Neku said crossing his arms

 

Shiki then opened her eyes

 

“yeah, Eri just told me telepathically that she wants to hangout with you” she said smiling

 

Neku then chuckled with his hand on his hip again

 

“Heh heh, sweet. It’s cool that she…well wants to know me” he remarked

 

“Yeah…it really is” shiki replied

 

Neku then told her good bye and Shiki said the same and began to finish sewing Mr. Mew.

 

He then floated out of the house and walked around the city, seeing her at Shibu Q

 

“So, what’s up?” Neku asked

 

“Well I was hoping you could do me a favor” Eri asked “Could you go into your dragon form? I uh…I kinda want to ride it again” she said bashfully

 

“Oh…um sure thing” Neku said smiling

 

He then closed his eyes and opened them becoming his dragon form, but lowered his vibe frequency so the God energy flowing in it didn’t overload the HP Shibuya.

 

Eri then giggled and she hopped on the dragon and they flew around the city with her telling him that she wanted to go on top of the 104 building. Once the reatched it, the dragon form floated near the building and then flew closer reverting back to Neku.

 

“I really like the view up here…it’s cool being able to see the whole city” Eri said smiling

 

“yeah it really is” Neku replied

 

“Hey Neku, do you mind telling me about Taki…I only know so much about you so…

 

Neku then picked up on her thoughts

 

“He was hurt by people…I remember Joshua mentioning that but…was it really as bad as he had put it?”

 

Neku then sighed knowing that, as much as he hated talking about that, he appreciated Eri wanting to understand him.

 

“Alright, I guess I’ll start with that since it’s on your mind” Neku said smiling at her “I’m glad…you want to know me…to understand me”

 

He then told Eri everything that he told Shiki making Eri’s eyes water from time to time and even cry a little

 

“I’m…I’m so sorry” she said sadly

 

Neku then raised his head and smiled

 

“Don’t be…it’s okay Eri…all of that made who I was back before I had real friends…like you guys. Even if I don’t know you like the way Shiki does, I know you’re…my friend…you’ve been there for me just like them. Heh heh, I mean you even helped them rebuild my Soul…er…rebuild me”

 

“To know that you did that…that…really means a lot to me. Thanks Eri” Neku said sweetly

 

“Heh heh, don’t mention it Neku” she said smiling back

 

Wanting a little snack, Neku then held out his right hand summoning chicken nuggets and began to eat them.

 

“Chicken nuggets?” Eri said a little startled by their sudden appearance

 

“yeah, they’re one of my favorites…want some?” he asked smiling

 

Eri then smiled happy that not only was he so open with her, but now she’s even learning more personal things, like his past and even his favorite foods

 

“Sure” she said happily

 

“he…really does like me. He trusts me…just like his friends from the Reapers’ Game” she thought happily

 

The two friends then took turns eating out of the cardboard container the nuggets came in, knowing that as ghosts, they don’t have germs. After that Neku then told her about how he met Taki

 

 

 

To be continued…


	23. Remembering A friend

As Neku and Eri sat on the 104 building as they ate chicken nuggets, he then explained how he met Takato and how it wasn’t an easy friendship at first. Due to how Neku just didn’t get people, and how they annoyed him, he just pushed everyone away not wanting to let anyone in, and yet, just like Shiki, Taki found a way in. The two friends then finished the container of chicken nuggets and Neku then went more in depth

 

“It wasn’t the smoothest of friendships…at least not at first” Neku said remarking on how he was back then

 

“Really how come?” Eri said curious

 

“Cause that’s when…I didn’t get people…and I pushed them away with my headphones” he answered

 

“I still remember it too, back when I first met him, and how…I just saw him like everyone else” Neku added smiling a little

 

 

 _It was just another school day, Neku had done his morning routine, and changed into his school uniform_ being _a white shirt (styled like Joshua's) and black jeans and black shoes, and rode his bike to his middle school. It was 10:30 am. At this time he usually starts his English…or rather, Japanese class, focusing on Japanese grammar, spelling and proper usage of Kanji._

_In that said class the teacher had given them an assignment that was to write about the different phases a hero goes through in literature as well as what type of hero the character may be categorized in._

_It was a partnered assignment, something that Neku hated, especially when partnered up with a lot of people. The only upside for him is that he tends to disconnect from them and just stare off into space (something he does when he can’t listen to his music to block everyone, ignore people) it’s something his teachers understand, due to his mother having a meeting with them, explaining the certain behaviors Neku has which can interfere with his ability to learn. She explained how he disconnects so much from people, that he almost shuts_ down, _like he’s stuck in a daydream._

_It’s because of this that teachers tend to check up on Neku whenever he has an assignment like this, just to make sure that he’s okay and that people aren’t being mean to him._

_The teacher then instructed everyone on what to do and passed out the worksheet that the class had to complete._

_“this will be a Partnered assignment so get with a friend and discuss what you think should be_ written _” she said smiling_

_Neku then hid his face in his bangs, trying to ignore what she had just said_

_“Great” Neku thought annoyed “just what I needed, to be with more annoying people. Why can’t I just do this on my own? I don’t need a partner…I can do this myself”_

_The eager students all scrambled like mice around the_ class room _getting partners and sitting down with them. Once the commotion had passed the teacher noticed that one of the students was sitting alone_

_“Neku? Do you not have a partner?” she asked sweetly_

_Neku then raised his head and looked at the teacher_

_“N-No…I don’t” he said shyly “I wanna do this on my own”_

_Remembering what his mother had said the teacher then decided to pair_   _him up with someone who shares a similar interest with Neku, someone who likes art._

_“I know Neku…but that’s part of the assignment to do it with someone else. Oh…look, that young man doesn’t have a partner, why don’t you partner up with him? Kurosai_   _is just a few desks away from you” she pointed out_

_Annoyed, Neku then got up and looked around. He never bothered getting to know any of his classmates so he didn’t know a lot of the people by name, just what they looked like._

_Noticing how he struggled to find him, Takato then slightly raised his hand getting Neku’s attention, causing the frustrated teen to sit next to him._

_“Okay, I guess we should start with--_

_But before Takato could finish, Neku had slid the paper over to himself_   _and started the assignment. He had nearly all of the first half done when the teacher came to check up on the students._

_She eventually got to Takato and Neku_

_“So how’s everything?” she asked_

_“Um…fine I guess_   _” Taki said not wanting to just rat out Neku_

_She then noticed how the first half of the page was done all by Neku recognizing his hand writing_

_“Um, Neku…why don’t you let Kurosai then do the next_ half _” she said trying to understand him_

_“_ Sure _” he said reluctantly_

_Neku then slid the paper to Takato never making eye contact with his partner. The teacher, knowing that that was just another case of Neku’s unsocial_   _behavior walked away and went back to her desk allowing them to work._

_As Taki finished the next half of the paper Neku simply looked away from his partner and_ day dreamed _wondering who CAT is and if he would ever meet the mysterious graffiti artist._

_As he pondered this, Taki finished the worksheet, got up and handed it_ in to _the teacher and then sat back at his desk._

_Neku was about to go away when he heard Taki unzip his book bag and brought out what looked like a folder, he then pulled out a blank piece of paper and colored pencils. Then right before Neku’s eyes, he saw Taki draw the Ghost Cat_

_“He…he likes CAT?” Neku thought shocked_

_Taki then finished drawing the head and added the Cat’s tongue, being sure to adjust the amount of pressure he'd apply to the paper with his colored pencil, making the tongue have a 3D effect as the shades of red blended from light to dark. Neku watched him carefully analyzing how he drew CAT’s logo._

_“he’s really good…that technique he did with the tongue...that's something only an artist could pull off with colored pencils. Does he know how to draw other graffiti too?” Neku thought_

_Taki glanced at Neku and stopped drawing the Ghost Cat to look at him causing Neku to look away and hide his face in his bangs again_

_“Do you like CAT too?” Taki asked_

_“Don’t let him_ in _” Neku thought “Even if he DOES like CAT…it’s not like I know this kid”_

_Noticing the silence, Taki asked if Neku was okay_

_“Are you okay Neku?”_

_Neku frustrated then sighed_

_“Yeah…I’m_ fine _” he said wanting to go back to his seat_

_Seeing how awkward the situation was Taki went back to drawing the Ghost Cat. Neku then raised his head and watched Taki draw the logo, as much as he wanted to be alone, his love for CAT’s work made him want to watch Taki draw the logo, he added the arms and hands as well as the stars that were for eyes on the logo making it_ look _exactly like the Ghost Cat in Udawgawa._

_It was something that amazed Neku_

_“It looks exactly like CAT’s design…to every little detail. The shape of the ears, the_ eyesbrows _on the Ghost Cat, the shape of the stars for the eyes, the whiskers, the bat wings on its face and even the highlight on the Cat’s tongue is there. He’s really good, he mimicked CAT’s logo perfectly” Neku thought_

_After everyone was finished with their assignment Neku went back to his seat thinking about Taki_

_“I may not know him, and I certainly don’t trust him…but…he…likes graffiti…but does he appreciate CAT? Does he like CAT for his slogan? Maybe…I should ask” Neku thought as he got to his seat_

_The bell then rang a few_ minuets _later and Neku went on to his next classes. Then after that, that school day ended for him. The next day Taki was in Neku’s Japanese class again and they worked on another partner assignment after it was done Taki drew graffiti written in kanji_

_“Aw snap!” Neku thought as he watched Taki draw “he really knows how to draw graffiti?! Alright…I just…gotta know…if he respects CAT or he only like him cause CAT’s popular”_

_As Neku was about to ask Taki if he liked CAT he then saw Takato color the drawing causing Neku to mentally read the Kanji_

_“Do what you want, How you want, when you want, it’s a pretty awesome slogan huh?” Taki said smiling_

_Neku then gasped_

_“that’s the slogan of the one man that I respect_   _” he said surprised_

_Taki then chuckled_

_“that’s the one man that I respect too_   _” Taki said smiling_

_Neku then smiled a little and from then on the two boys would sit beside each other talking about CAT, what music they both like and how they both believe in being themselves and not giving that up for anyone. Eventually_   _they hanged out at each other’s houses playing video games_   _and Taki even taught Neku how to draw the Ghost Cat_

_As the new friend hanged out at Neku’s house he asked him why he wears headphones all the time when not in his school uniform_

_“Well Taki, (the nickname Neku gave him)_ it’s cause _…I’ve got my values…so they can keep their’s…I don’t get people, never have…never will. I hate people and find them so loud, obnoxious and annoying…so I block them out with my headphones. Their values are worthless…they obsess over little things like trends and popularity, giving up who they are in the process. I‘m not gonna give up who I am to earn someone‘s approval, so I wear them to make them back off” Neku explained_

_Taki then smiled_

_“I know right? Like that one_ guy _I’ve seen girls go crazy over…some guy named the Prince? And he has this blog called: F Everything…who would want to read something like that? Instead of obsessing over what ONE PERSON THINKS, they should focus more on what they think, and what they believe in, their values” Taki said sternly_

_Neku then sighed_

_“yeah…why can’t more people be like you? You’re not stupid or annoying, you’re able to understand a concept so simple…and yet…they can’t” Neku said crossing his arms_

_Taki then chuckled_

_“You know, I know of another concept that people seem to not_ understand _” Taki said smiling_

_“really? Well lay it on me” Neku said smiling back_

_“You know that phrase 'music is life'?" Taki asked_

_“Yeah” Neku replied_

_“Well it’s true, think about it! When your heart pumps blood it creates a beat” Taki announced_

_Neku then chuckled_

_“Yeah…you’re right…our hearts make music. Music literally keeps us alive, so if music_   _is life…than Art is apart of the world. Think about it, everything in life can be broken down into basic shapes…and often times we have things made out of basic shapes, like computer monitors, our school textbooks, traffic lights, even the skyscrapers of Shibuya are all basic shapes. Art and music is all around us” Neku said profoundly_

_The two boys then chuckled at how philosophical they both get at times, happy to have someone who understands their values, Neku would even go on rants about society and how he hates it, making Taki smile saying that it’s good to express one’s self._

_“Hey Taki, wanna go walk for a bit? I figured we could hang out around the city for a little while,_   _before I take you to this place I wanna show you. It’s my favorite spot in Shibuya” Neku said smiling_

_“Alright, let’s_ go _” Taki said happily_

_After letting his parents know where they were going Neku left the house and lead Takato Miyashita Park, saving Udagawa for last, as a sort of surprise for his friend. Once they arrived at Miyashita Park, they then walked around a bit_   _since Neku didn't want to go to Udagawa too early. As they walked around, Taki then had an idea_

_“Hey Neku…” he said with a smug smile_

_“what’s up?” Neku asked looking towards his friend_

_Taki then pushed Neku, he then smiled remembering how he’s rough-housed with Taki before, and pushed him back. The boys then pushed each other harder with more force and before they knew it they ended up tackling each other and began wrestling each other._

_Taki and Neku pushed and tackled each other making them roll on the ground (due to their laughter people didn’t get involved seeing it as the two boys were playing) they then got up and began pushing each other again_

_“C’mon man, is that all you’ve got?” Taki said teasingly as he pushed Neku back_

_“Heh heh, hardly!” Neku exclaimed as he pushed Taki_

_They then pushed harder and harder causing Neku to push Taki back to the point he fell to the ground. He then got up and pushed Neku again making him land towards the train tracks for the trains that go through the park. He then ran to Taki and pushed him back, Takimaru and Neku then wrestled again._

_As this happened a train was passing through the park but it was very far away_   _making it unnoticeable. As the boys wrestled the train got closer and closer, Taki then pushed Neku again causing him to land on the train tracks. At first_   _Neku smiled and was about to run to Taki…but then he heard the train and looked towards it._

_It was headed right towards him. Before he could even think, Taki ran towards him screaming his name_

_“NEKUUUUUU!” he screamed_

_He then pushed Neku, filled with a look of fear on his face. Before he could blink, before he could even grasp what was happening, Neku fell landing on the ground landing on his hands (the position he was in before he was shot) all he saw in the blink of an eye was that Takimaru was gone._

_His heart was pounding like it was going to go out of his chest, he had chills go down his spine, and felt eyes water. All Neku could do was lay on the ground in that position watching a piece of Taki’s shirt land next to him and feel his eyes burn as his vision blurred as tears fell from his face._

_It was then that Neku had lost his one true friend…_

 

“Neku” Eri said weakly “I’m so…so…sorry, It sounded like…he meant a lot to you. Almost like you two were brothers”

 

Neku then hanged his head

 

“Yeah…there was so much I wanted to do with him. I...I never got to take him to Udagawa like I had wanted to...and, in the end, Takato gave up his eternity…to save mine” he said weakly

 

Neku then raised his head and smiled

 

“But…even though he’s gone, a little bit of Taki is still apart of me. I was able to get access to some of his Demon powers when fighting Anthony. On top of how he transferred his ability to sense demons faster, he also sent me some of his other powers too. somehow…in the end he was there for me” he said sweetly

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“You know, it’s funny…back in the Reapers’ Game Joshua asked me if I’d go to the tag mural in Udagawa with a friend after school. I then told him that I don’t do groups…that I never found anyone fun to hangout with…but…that was years after Taki's death. It was like as time went on, I didn't think about him because it hurt too much"

 

He then looked to Eri and smiled

 

“But now, I’ve got all of you guys too. So…I’m glad that we all somehow got through this” he said sweetly

 

“Yeah me too” Eri said smiling

 

“thanks Neku”

 

“huh? For what?” he said curious

 

“for bringing me back” Eri said sweetly

 

Neku then scratched his head feeling a little awkward

 

“it…it was nothing” he said bashfully

 

After that, the teens sat in silence for a bit…to sort of…take in the sounds of the city, closing their eyes to focus on sound, not sight

 

“You know Eri” Neku said breaking the silence for a bit “Music is all around us even in the HP Shibuya, even in the afterlife”

 

“Huh? What do you mean?” Eri said looking towards him

 

Neku then looked back at her and chuckled

 

“Heh, heh, even if we don’t have heartbeats anymore, the music that kept us alive as humans, it’s still here Eri. Just close your eyes and listen” he said smiling

 

She then did just that

 

“What do you hear?” he asked

 

“Lots of people walking and talking but…nothing else” she replied

 

“heh, try listening more closely Eri. Try tapping your finger and see if a person matches those taps” Neku answered

 

She then did as he suggested

 

She listened closely, and then tapped her finger

 

They waited a few seconds and she smiled

 

“I hear it, some people are matching my taps” she said smiling

 

She then heard Neku counting at the speed of her taps

 

“One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. One, two, three, four”

 

She then opened her eyes, stopped tapping and looked at him causing him to stop counting the moment she stopped tapping and smiled at her

 

“that was a beat Eri, music and art never die, they’re apart of the world” he said sincerely

 

Eri then giggled

 

“I never knew you were so introspective Neku” she said smiling

 

Neku then scratched his head a little flattered

 

“Heh heh, I guess. I just, think a lot that’s all” he mumbled

 

“that, and you’re very creative Neku. Heh, it’s no wonder you’re a Higher Mind. You’re so imaginative. I never really saw the world like that before” she said sweetly

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“heh heh, that’s cause people usually never try to. Anyone can develop an ear for music, all you gotta do is try” he said smiling

 

Eri then chuckled

 

“You know, you’re really cool Neku. So deep and thoughtful, and artistic, and kind. I’m glad I know you”

 

Neku then wore his smug smile again

 

“thanks, I’m glad I know you too” he said sweetly

 

They then flew off of the building and down to the Scramble Crossing once they landed there they then began to walk around the city.

 

“By the way, you can imprint everything I told you about Taki to everyone else, I can sense that’s something they’re curious about” he said smiling

 

“really how?” she asked

 

“It’s one of the powers I have as a Limitless God. Dome of its not as intense abilities can be accessed at any time. It’s also an ability that a Death God shares with them since they’re both Gods, they both have certain similarities to each other. Sort of like how Enlightens and Angels do” Neku replied

 

“that’s amazing Neku” Eri said astonished

 

They then walked around a little more and then Eri stopped and closed her eyes sending the story of Taki to all his friends, even Joshua. She also said that they’re in the Scramble crossing if they wanted to hangout. Sure enough, his friends then all teleported there (with the exception of Joshua and Mr. H who were by now in their district)

 

Shiki and friends then all spotted them and walked up to Neku and Eri

 

“so…what’s up?” Shiki said smiling

 

“Oh nothing, other than what Neku told me about Taki, he also taught me some stuff about music” Eri said smiling

 

Mr. Mew, who’s now fully repaired and on Shiki’s shoulder began to clap his little paws together, like he was happy she learned about music, making Eri chuckle.

 

“So what now?” Rhyme said happily

 

“well I figured we could lower out Vibe Frequency to be at the same level as the other human souls here, so then we could…you know…interact with them. Then it’d feel even more like we’re in Shibuya” Neku said smiling

 

“heh that’s a good idea yo” Beat said smiling

 

Neku and friends then closed their eyes and all focused on lowering their energy. They then walked around the city noticing people moving away from them trying to avoid hitting them

 

“it worked!” Rhyme thought happily

 

As they walked around they saw some animals who have entered the afterlife too. One of them in particular threw them into shock, as they walked around people and headed towards the Hachiko Statue they saw a certain animal there, looking at the statue, a white Akita.

 

The moment they saw the dog they all froze in a state of shock

 

“BWAAAAAH! That…THAT AIN’T….IS THAT REALLY THE DOG YO?!” Beat shouted

 

“No way…that’s really him?! I mean…he died, so it’d make sense for him to be here” Shiki said shocked

 

“yeah…heh heh that’s a good point Shiki” Neku replied looking at her

 

he then looks at the dog wondering if they were right

 

“Hachiko?” he said curious

 

The dog then nodded his head

 

“he understood you?!” Eri said surprised

 

“Of course. In the afterlife, animals are no longer bound to earthly limitations” Hachiko answered

 

“BWAAAAAAAAH!” Beat shouted

 

“Aw snap! H-how did you…wait…I get it. So since you’re dead, you’re energy like us, you can do whatever you want now right?” Neku said trying to understand

 

“exactly” Hachiko replied

 

After that, the famous dog’s owner appeared commenting on how he appreciated Japan paying respect to his beloved friend. Hachiko also added that he was happy to see the citizens of Japan be so loyal to each other, almost as if they were inspired by him.

 

“Yeah me too” Neku said smiling “It’s because of that loyalty that I've got friends now”

 

After they talked a bit more Hachiko and his owner then went back to their home in Shibuya making Neku and his friends smile

 

“I’m glad they’re together again” Shiki said sweetly

 

“Same here, I bet Hachiko feels a lot better now. The poor guy just kept waiting…never knowing that his owner wasn’t coming back. But now…he doesn’t have to wait anymore…he has his friend again” Neku said sincerely

 

His friends then all smiled and remarked on how that statement reminded them of him. Neku then chuckled noticing it too.

 

Wanting to hang out a little longer, Rhyme wanted to go to eat Ramen with him and then go to Neku's house to spray paint graffiti, and learn how to do spray paint art, it was something Neku was happy to show his friends how to do and how to make graffiti with markers.

 

After that they decided to go relax in their houses, and planned to hangout later on again all agreeing to go to the Composer District, wanting to see the islands of floating cities Neku had seen to see Joshua and Mr. H’s home.


	24. Inner Pain

Neku and his friends all relaxed in their houses, each one did their usual routine like they were alive again. They all watched TV and ate the foods they all liked. Neku even spent time just relaxing in his living  room watching TV. As they all did their routines Shiki began to remember certain things about her life. She thought about how she use to look in the past, back in elementary school.

 

As Neku watched TV, finally at peace, finally relaxing, he heard someone kick open his bedroom door

 

“AIIIIIIIIIIGHT!” Beat roared “Let’s start it up!”

 

Shocked by his appearance Neku turned around facing Beat

 

“Beat what’re you--” Neku yelled

 

Before he could finish his sentence The Freaking Rhino then ran towards Neku and grabbed his lanky little brother carrying him over his shoulder, making Neku flash back to when he thought Beat would do that to break him out of the hospital.

 

Being the experienced skater he is, Beat leaped into the air, summoned his skateboard, and then grinded down the hand rail down the stairs. He then leaped off of it with an Ollie and then bursted through the front door.

 

“seriously Beat what are you doing why are you--

 

“Show me whatchu got Phones!” Beat roared

 

He then threw his lanky brother in the air

 

“WHAT THE HEEEEELL?!” Neku screamed

 

Beat then leaped into the air and sprouted Angel wings and flew after Neku. Sensing his Angel wings, Neku got the hint and grew Angel wings too. The two boys then flew around the city wanting to see who was faster. They zigzagged around building flying at break neck speeds.

 

“Hey, not bad” Neku said with a smug smile “But now let’s see what you can do bro, you may be better at running then me, since you can run really fast, but you’re on my turf now Beat. I was trained by the best on flying”

 

“Heh, bring it on yo!” Beat roared

 

The two teens flew even faster with so much speed that they became blurry. As they tapped into their Angel energy, they both became surrounded by white auras flying even faster, at least 700 miles per hour. Everything came rushing by in the city. It was all a blur for them. They then decided that whoever made it to the Phonebooth of Love first, wins.

 

Feeling extremely competitive both Neku and Beat were neck and neck until Neku focused so much energy that his eyes became light gray with a touch of light blue and pupiless, tapping into his Angel energy. He then broke the sound barrier letting out a thunderous sonic boom and became a blur of white energy. Beat then did the same.

 

But Neku had gained such a huge lead that when Beat caught up, he then slowed down and floated to the ground allowing his Angel wings to dissolve and saw his little brother with his back leaning against the phone booth

 

“Heh, damn that was tight yo!” Beat said happily “How come you so good at Flyin’ yo?!”

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“That’s cause all my flying maneuvers were all taught by the best of the best, Mr. H personally taught me his fighting style and advanced techniques on flying, to use against Anthony” Neku said with his hand on his hip wearing a smug smile

 

Beat then chuckled saying how he’s glad that Neku’s so strong now. Neku added that he was too and the boys then flew back to their houses. Beat then thought it’d be funny to race Neku on foot to see who could get to Neku’s house first.

 

The powerful freaking Rhino, charged through the city gaining more and more speed as he ran. Neku, being out of shape and not having as much stamina as Beat struggled, something he had to put up with even in the UG.

 

Neku panted out of breath as he ran, he was like a fish flopping as it was on land gasping for air. He started to catch up but Beat was still ahead of him. When Neku finally reached his house he saw Beat smiling at him

 

“Damn, you so slow yo, come on Phones, you gotta MOVE” Beat said teasingly

 

Neku then panted out of breath some more trying to steady it.

 

“Yo, quitcha huffin’ ‘n puffin’ yo” Beat said smiling “You ain’t gonna turn into a li’l whimpy boy ain’t ya?”

 

Neku then caught his breath and smiled at him with his hand on his waist again

 

“Heh heh, don’t count on it” Neku said firmly

 

The two boys then laughed with Beat giving Neku a nuggie before going back to his house

 

“See ya later yo” Beat said waving goodbye as he walked away

 

“see ya Beat” Neku said smiling

 

As they went their separate ways, Beat then saw Eri by the 104 shopping mall and decided to greet her.

 

"'Sup Eri! How you doin'?" He said happily 

 

She then giggled

 

"I'm doing great Beat." She said with a giggle

 

She then notices he became a bit more serious as he scratched his head 

 

'So um...there's somethin' on my mind yo. Somthin' I wanted to ask" he said shyly 

 

"What is it Beat? Is everything okay?" Eri said worried 

 

"Heh, yeah I'm aight. It's just...you remember when we were in the Demon Realm fightin' Soul Stealers an' I caught you, holdin' you 'n stuff?" He asked

 

"I remember." Eri replied

 

"Well, l heard your thoughts yo. It ain't like l meant to do that, it just sorta happened. I guess...all l wanted to tell you yo was that...I...I feel the same way. You ain't just a friend to me Eri, you're more than that" he said holding onto his shoulder looking down

 

Eri then gasped in shock 

 

"Beat I...I don't know what to say. I'm really glad you told me that though. I've wanted to tell you my feelings towards you for a while" she said feeling shy

 

Beat then chuckled

 

"Heh, so what would that make us yo? It's not like we datin' or somethin'" he said scratching his head

 

Eri then felt totally embarrassed and flailed her hands while blushing 

 

"What?! Us doing that?! I um...I only feel like we just got to really know each other you know? So l...l don't wanna rush things!" Eri said embarrassed 

 

Beat then chuckled again

 

"You know what though? I feel like l sorta got to know you in the UG yo. Shiki copied you bein' all cute and nice to the point, when I finally got ta be witchu in the RG, it already felt like I knew you a little. It was like all that time, I was talkin' to you and not Shiki since now l know she wasnt bein' herself back then" he said with a smile

 

Eri then giggled 

 

"Yeah. I felt like we just clicked when we started hanging out. But l especially felt that way when you were there for me when l really needed it. Same goes for Rhyme too" she said feeling shy 

 

"I...I don't feel ready for us to be more than friends Beat. Is that ok? I just don't want you to not like me anymore and start to feel uncomfortable with me" she said sadly

 

Beat then hanged his head 

 

"It's aight yo. I don't wantchu feelin' weird around me either. I jus' wantchu to be happy no matter what" he said feeling sad too

 

She then walks closer to Beat and held his hand causing Beat to gently wrap his fingers around hers. 

 

"Please don't feel sad Beat. I don't want you to feel like this. Even if I don't feel ready for us to be something more, I still want to be with you. Being with you Beat, is all l really need" Eri said sweetly

 

Beat then looked at her and smiled 

 

"That's  all l need too yo. Bein' with you...seeing you bein' aight, it's all l really want" he said sincerely 

 

They then chuckle and laugh at how they still felt a little awkward talking about how much they mean to each other and remarked on how it reminded them of Neku and Shiki and how they get embarrassed too and then decided to go shopping together 

 

 

As this happened, Neku then entered his house and watched TV again, but not before having a Tatsumi burger in his kitchen first, all of that running made Neku hungry. He knows he shouldn’t feel hungry and that that was another human tendency he was doing again but wanted to wat anyway just did what he wanted. After that he then went to the living room to watch more TV to relax after his meal.

 

Meanwhile as he did this, Shiki began to reminice about her life before Neku and Eri were apart of it, before they and Beat and Rhyme became apart of it.

 

It’s because of this that she began to trigger painful memories making her demon energy feed off of her sadness. But due to her exposure to the energy it began to consume her much more slowly only tampering with her mind due to it being weaker than Neku's.

 

“back then…people…I remember, they made fun of me” Shiki thought sadly

 

 

Shiki then got up and went to her dresser looking at herself in the mirror.

 

“that’s why I always cried  ran away from them" she thought remembering their laughter

 

As the energy began to affect her mind more, Neku could sense her demon energy spiking up causing him to become concerned

 

“Shiki!” he roared “it’s starting to hurt her!”

 

He then leaped off of his bed and ran out of his living room and teleported, phasing into Shiki’s living room

 

“I gotta make sure she’s okay! But…something’s off…usually when demon energy consumes someone it hurts to the point that that spirit is screaming in pain, like with what the energy does to me. Is it hurting her differently, like with her mind?” Neku thought worried

 

Shiki then began to feel her eyes water and she looked at herself in the mirror

 

“Why…why did all of that happen? I have Eri, Beat, Rhyme and Neku…all of them. I have a ton of friends now but…they could easily leave me” Shiki said sadly

 

“Eri, why can’t I look like you?” she whimpered

 

She then closed her eyes and opened them, changing her eye color to a bright blue and was about to take off her glasses. At that moment, she felt a headache making her grunt in pain as she fell to her knees. She was then surrounded by a dark purple aura of Demon energy, feeding off of her sadness, echoing her thoughts outloud for her to hear.

 

"They don't need me. They don't care about me. Eri has always been better than me. She's better than me at everything she does. She's smart, beautiful, and has tons of friends. They're just pretending to care" 

 

Shiki then mumbled as if she was in a trance

 

"If I look like her, then they'll like me" she sad weakly

 

 

As soon as she thought that, Shiki's appearance began to change, and at that moment he had heard enough so Neku called out to her

 

“Shiki! Shiki are you okay?!” he screamed

 

But she ignored him, increasing his concern evenmore.

 

“Dammit, she’s not even answering me? This is really bad” he thought as he approached the door to her bedroom

 

She then heard him knock on it

 

“Go…please just…go away” she sadly

 

Neku then hid his face in his funnel collar

 

“Shiki…remember how you said that you weren’t going to abandon me? Well, I won’t do that to you either. If you don’t want to talk about what’s bothering you, that’s fine but…please…just don’t push everyone away like this. You know how much that hurts someone’s mind and soul” he said sternly

 

“I know” she replied

 

Neku was about to go and give her, her space and turned around getting ready to leave (but still keep an eye on her by tracking her energy) when he heard a certain thought Shiki had

 

“Eri…why can’t I be like you? Why do I have to be so…ugly?”

 

“that’s it” Neku thought “I’m not letting her slip back”

 

Neku then opened the door causing Shiki to cover her eyes

 

“Neku don’t look!” she cried

 

Neku then looked at her in shock seeing Shiki with long brown hair and the exact clothes Eri wears but with the hoodie being green, her shirt being black and her skirt being tan, while wearing pink colored boots, she was transforming into Eri and Neku saw she had an aura of Demon energy around her echoing her thoughts some more

 

"No one needs me, no one cares, no one would miss me if I disappeared"

 

Enraged by how hurt she was, he then ran towards her and helped her get back up.

 

"SHIKI!" Neku yelled "Snap out of it!"

 

hearing his voice then made her look at him shocked (as well as making the aura disappear) and  she then covered up her eyes He then placed his hands on hers and removed them from her eyes seeing her changed blue eyes making him look at her shocked 

 

"Why did you do this? Why are you changing parts of who you are to look like Eri?!" he cried

 

 

“Can’t you see how ugly I look?! I don’t want you to see me like this anymore! That's why I wanted to change! If you had just left me alone, I could've changed everything about myself!” she roared

 

 

Shiki then hanged her head

 

 

Neku then hid his face from her

 

 

“How can you say that?” he snarled

 

Hearing how angry his voice was Shiki looked at him in shock but with her eyes back to normal

 

“How can you honestly say that about yourself when you fought so hard to be yourself again, to get your body back? Are you really going to throw all of that away? Did nothing I said back then mean anything?!”

 

“Neku it’s not like that, it’s just--

 

Neku then raised his head with his right hand in his pocket holding out his left hand again (something he tends to do when he’s thoughtful)

 

“then why? Just tell me why are you behaving like nothing mattered? Don’t you get what our pact did in the UG? How…you helped me open up to people? You were the first person I let in Shiki, the first person who made me feel like I could understand where they’re coming from, all the sadness they felt. Don’t go pretending to be someone you’re not. If you want to change how your eye color, or the length of your hair, that's fine but...don't go changing everything about who you are. I like you looking the way you normally do. You don't need to change.” he said sternly

 

“You’re not ugly Shiki. You’re smart, artistic, fun, and just…really empathetic. Whenever I feel like crap, you always know what to say to help me feel better. Don’t ever consider yourself worthless Shiki, because you’re not. Those thoughts you were having, that the demon energy allowed me to hear, they're not true.”

 

“You…really mean that?” Shiki said weakly as her body went back to normal

 

“Yeah, the people around us are able to see us in ways that we can’t see ourselves. That’s something that you all taught me in the Reapers’ Game. I was able to see how I was blocking out the world, making me want to better myself and you…being my first partner…being the first person to…want to understand me, was one of the main reasons I pushed myself to beat the Game. Whenever I felt nervous or discouraged in the Game, I knew I had to keep fighting for the both of us, so I could keep our promise and see you again. I knew if I died...that you would face Erasure too. That's why I knew I had to win no matter what” Neku said hiding his face again

 

“But…even if all of that is true…I wasn’t worth all the trouble Neku, I’m not worth…anything and--

 

“Oh would you cut the crap?” Neku said crossing his arms

 

“Everyone has something that they don’t like about themselves, but even if it bothers them, that’s apart of who they are. It doesn’t mean that they’re inferior or worthless, it makes them real. Everyone has imperfections, but those qualities make everyone unique. We’re all different, we’re all individuals” Neku said with his left hand out again

 

Neku then couldn’t help but feel a little bashful for what he was about to say next causing him to scratch his head trying to avoid the topic of beauty

 

“Besides, you don't need to worry about...you know...being pretyy...no matter what other people think, all that really matters is what you think of yourself”

 

He then hid his face again fighting the urge to blush trying to not get too detailed with talking about Shiki's appearance

 

“no matter what you think Shiki, I like you the way you are” he said sweetly

 

At that moment Eri, Beat and Rhyme appeared in her room making Shiki look in shock and Neku smile at them

 

 

"Shiki!" Eri said sadly "I could feel how upset you were! Why didn't you tell me?!"

 

 

Beat and Rhyme then looked at Shiki worried too

 

 

"We all could. We all felt how hurt you were" Rhyme added

 

 

"Huh? I...I didn't want to tell anyone that I was upset that's all. I just want you to be happy Eri!" Shiki replied

 

Beat then chuckled

 

"heh, come on yo, you think after alla the crap we went through together to save Phones, dat you ain't got some connection to me an' Rhyme? It's pretty much like we got a Pact Shiki." Beat said smiling

 

Rhyme then giggled

 

 

"He's right, and Eri's been your friend the longest Shiki, knowing you before me, Beat and Neku ever did, so of course you'd pretty much have a Pact with her too. We just want you to be okay" she said sincerely

 

Neku looked at them and nodded his head and looked back at Shiki

 

"You see? I know you and I were never the most...upbeat people in the past. Those bad thoughts we have can be really hurtful, but you gotta try to remember what you have right here Shiki. Even if we can't be with you all the time, we're still here. You can still reach out to us whenever you're hurt. That's...what a real friend does...right?" he said smiling

 

Shiki then smiled at Neku and the others

 

"Yeah...that's right. Thanks...guys" Shiki said with a little chuckle

 

Eri then went up to Shiki and hugged her and they let go making Eri giggle

 

"You know, what Rhyme said is true, we might as well make it official and have you make a Pact" she said happily

 

Shiki then giggled too

 

"That's a great idea" Shiki said happily

 

"So...Eri, will you make a Pact with me?" she asked

 

Eri then smiled

 

"Totally, I accept" Eri said with another giggle

 

at that moment Eri and Shiki saw a flashing light and saw the vision of them standing side by side

 

Eri then looked at Neku and the others in shock

 

"So that's what happens? that weird flash of light?" She asked

 

Neku and the others then nodded

 

"That means it worked, you now are officially linked to Shiki, Eri" he said with a smile

 

 

 Shiki and Eri then giggled and then it was Beat's turn

 

"Will you accept my Pact Beat?" Shiki said happily

 

Beat then pumped his fist

 

"damn straight Shiki, I accept yo"

 

the vision then triggered for them causing Beat and Shiki to smile, and then finally Shiki did a Pact with Rhyme causing them to smile at each other

 

"Thanks guys, I feel a lot better now" she said happily

 

"and...thanks Neku, for helping me not change who I am" Shiki added

 

 

Neku then raised his head smiling at her with his hand on his waist

 

“Don’t mention it, you’ve always been there for me when I needed it, so it only makes sense for me to be there for you” he said sweetly

 

Shiki then looking at him a little shy, and then pulled him in for a hug, causing him to wrap his arms around Shiki. After they stayed in each other's embrace for a few seconds, they then let go causing Neku to smile at her, and Shiki giggled.

 

“Good” he thought “the demon energy’s neutralized but still…Shiki hasn’t used demon energy as long as I have…maybe if she had a better idea of how to use the energy then it wouldn’t feed off her mind”

 

Neku then proposed his idea to his friend causing Shiki to smile saying that she thinks it’s a good idea.

 

The two friends then closed their eyes altering their vibe frequency so the normal human souls wouldn’t feel their presence. They then left Shiki's apartment and ended up near the 104 building

 

Neku then snapped his fingers becoming his demon form and Shiki did too. She then closed her eyes dissolving her green shirt, keeping the black one beneath it, changed the color of her skirt to red, and wore black slippers.

 

“You like it?” she asked

 

“heh, you look great” he said giving her a thumb’s up

 

“I saw you wear this when you used your Demon form to help me fight Anthony but...I didn't get to ask why. So, what’s up with the new get up?” he asked

 

“well just how those clothes you're wearing were made to distance yourself from when you were a demon lord, I wanted to wear something that represented me getting control over it…and to have something that continued the tradition of course” she said smiling

 

“huh? What tradition?” Neku asked

 

“you know, how you dress all fancy when you’re a demon” she said smiling with her mouth closed

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“Good point” he said also smiling

 

"You know, it's funny" Neku added "I never intended that to be a tradition. it just sorta happened"

 

 

His friends, sensing the demon energy then headed towards the 104 building asking what was going on, and if Neku and Shiki were okay. They reassured them that they were and that Neku wanted to help her feel more in control of her demon form

 

Neku then wanted to help with her sense of speed, since it’s crucial in fighting as a demon. He instructed her to go as fast as she could up the 104 building and that whoever reached the top wins

 

They both then started to run to the building and pounced on it getting ready to climb up but when they did, they began to slide down. Neku and Shiki then giggled taking off their shoes and grew demon claws on their toe nails and pounced on the building crawling up it like a spider.

 

They both went faster and faster gaining so much speed that they became blurs. As they ran Neku looked at her, smiled and then went even faster, causing Shiki to do the same. She smiled as she saw herself get closer to the top and eventually getting closer to beating Neku except…she then noticed…he was sitting on top of the building smiling at her

 

She then reached the top nudged him in the arm.

 

“How’d you go that fast?” she said curious

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“My demon form’s stronger than yours remember?” he said smiling

 

Shiki then giggled

 

“Oh yeah…but did I do a good job?” she said eager

 

“Heh, the fact that you were able to keep up with my form is pretty sweet Shiki. You’re not even a Staccato Demon like me, and you were able to still keep up with my speed, that’s pretty cool, that and Virtuoso Demons are still really tough too. So it only makes sense you'd be able to still keep up” he said smugly

 

They then returned to their spirit forms and floated down to their friends

 

“Damn that was tight yo!” Beat shouted

 

“yeah that so was so cool watching you guys run so fast” Rhyme added

 

“You were incredible Shiki” Eri said smiling

 

They friends then all laughed and smiled happy that Shiki felt more in control of her demon form, but Neku still worried about how her Demon energy fed off of her sadness, wondering if she was really okay. He then had an idea to help Shiki and told her that he wanted to help her gain more control over her Demon form.

 

 

“You ready Shiki?” Neku asked

 

“Yeah” Shiki replied

 

The two demons then charged towards each other beginning the fight. Shiki swipped at Neku with her claws making him dodge each swipe effortlessly. She then leaped away from him and shot red Demon energy into Mr. Mew.

 

“Go Mr. Mew!” she shouted

 

At her command the toy flew towards Neku with a red aura around it and grew knives for claws and began swiping at Neku. He dodged the toy’s attacks and then grabbed Mr. Mew’s back leg and threw him to the ground causing the toy to go back to its master.

 

Shiki then fired black demon energy at Neku, causing him to block it with a dome of Staccato Demon energy. He then fired his energy at Shiki causing her to teleport behind Neku and attempted to punch him, causing Neku to immediately turn around and block her punch.

 

He then swiped at Shiki, but made his aim a little off hoping she wouldn’t notice. As she dodged the swipes Shiki then pushed Neku back

 

“Ugh, Neku! You’re holding back aren’t you?” she said annoyed crossing her arms

 

“Huh? What’re you talking about?!” Neku said shocked she noticed

 

“Well, I know you’re a Staccato Demon, and I’m a Virtuoso Demon so I’m not as strong as you, even if the gap between us isn't that big, I shouldn’t have been able to dodge your attacks so easily. How come you’re not fighting for real?” she said with her arms still crossed

 

Neku then scratched his head again turning away from her, feeling bashful.

 

“I…um…well, that’s cause…I…don’t want to see you get hurt Shiki” he said shyly

 

Shiki then looked at him in shock

 

“Huh? That’s what that was all about?” she said shocked

 

Mr. Mew then hopped towards Shiki and she held the toy against her chest

 

“Neku” she said sweetly “thanks for looking out for me but, how am I suppose to get better at controlling the energy if I can’t see what I can do?”

 

Neku then scratched his head again

 

“That’s a good point” he said feeling more embarrassed

 

Eri then giggled

 

“Neku, it’s okay really, she has a point. If you wanna help her, train her, but just don’t go crazy with that Staccato energy so it’s fair for her” Eri added

 

Neku then smiled at her with his hand on his hip

 

“Good idea” he said happily

 

He then turned to Shiki

 

“ready to try this again?” he asked

 

“You bet” she said smiling

 

Neku then summoned Staccato energy in his hands and Shiki summoned Virtuoso energy in her hands.

 

“No holding back” he thought as he ran towards her “I know she can do this, even if her mind and energy isn’t as strong as mine, that doesn’t matter. Shiki’s strong…she can do this”

 

“I gotta maintain control, I can do this” Shiki thought running

 

They both fired their energies causing them to clash

 

“Neku was a Virtuoso Demon when he was Damien, and he was really strong, so I can be that strong too” she thought

 

The two energies pushed each other, with Neku’s pushing her’s back a little.

 

“C’mon Shiki” Eri thought

 

She then snarled as she exerted more energy to Neku’s and blasted it towards him. Neku was still pushing her’s back but the Virtuoso energy began to feed off of Shiki’s intense emotions making it more fierce pushing the energy. Neku then exerted more force pushing his energy causing his hands to burn

 

“Nnngh! Dammit, my hands…they’re stinging” he muttered

 

His energy then broke (cause he wanted to try something else) and teleported past her energy and punched the air releasing a shockwave, like a sonic boom towards Shiki sending her flying

 

“Crap!” Neku thought “Did I use too much force?”

 

He then ran towards her as she rolled on the ground. Shiki then ran towards Neku and fired five orbs of energy at him causing him to dodge them all. Due to how they both lack strength like Beat, they make up for it with speed to make devastating impact with their attacks. Shiki and Neku ran faster and faster becoming blurs from the incredible speed.

 

Shiki then stopped, slid on the ground and punched at Neku firing her demon energy at him. Due to the speed Neku couldn’t stop in time and was hit by it sending him crashing onto the ground.

 

“Heh, not bad” Neku said as he got up

 

But when he got to his feet he sensed something was wrong. Shiki was letting out a very low growl

 

“Shiki?” he said weakly

 

She then felt a sharp pain in her head making her whimper in pain. Her determination to win, was now twisted into anger and hostility

 

He then ran towards her

 

“Shiki! What happened?” Neku cried

 

“Rrrrgh! I’ll kill you!” Shiki snarled

 

He then stopped running and looked at her in shock

 

“What? Shiki…we were just sparing remember? We’re not fighting for real!” Neku yelled

 

“I know” Shiki said just beyond a whisper

 

She then held out her hand towards Mr. Mew causing him to become his panther form again

 

“kill him” she said darkly

 

At her command the panther then charged at Neku causing him to look at her in shock

 

“No…this was supposed to help her!” Neku thought

 

The panther then attempted to slash Neku causing him to dodge the attack and teleport away from him. The moment he landed back on the ground the panther Mr. Mew slashed Neku making him grunt in pain

 

“Neku!” Eri shouted

 

“Stay back! I’ll handle this! If you get involved you’ll get yourself hurt too Eri! You gotta let me handle this!” Neku said squeezing his right shoulder as he got up

 

The panther then slashed Neku again making him roll onto the ground. He then got up to see Mr. Mew’s panther form pounce at him, causing Neku to punch it in the chest breaking its ribs. The animal then howled in pain and reverted back to its toy form

 

Shiki then teleported to Neku and slashed him five times before blasting him away with a dome of her demon energy. Neku then rolled onto the ground again and then got back to his feet.

 

 

“You have to fight back Neku!” Eri shouted

 

“I…I can’t” he said weakly “I don’t want to hurt her”

 

He then reverted back to his normal state and charged up his energy in his hands

 

“I want to use this to heal Shiki, to help her feel better” he thought

 

At that moment the energy became darkblue in the center and light blue as an outline. He then ran towards Shiki

 

“Crap! I don’t know how to neutralize demon energy! Rrrgh! Shiki…You gotta calm down! I’ll help you!” Neku shouted

 

Shiki then charged her Demon energy in her right hand and ran up to Neku with it

 

“Rrrrgh! Now I’ll take that delicious energy! You little Proxy boy!” Shiki roared

 

“No…she’s even talking like a demon…don’t worry Shiki, I’ll make this stop” he thought

 

She then swiped the energy at Neku and he swiped his energy at her placing his energy on her head and she stabbed Neku in the chest

 

“Nnngh!” he grunted

 

“No! Neku!” Eri shouted generating Angel energy “What’s going on? You’re not even screaming in pain!”

 

“it’s okay Eri…I’ve been stabbed before” he said darkly

 

Neku then closed his eyes tapping into his Composer powers freezing her in place

 

“Now I’ve got her right where I want her” he thought

 

His energy then began to dance like fire and then began to move like an aura borealis.

 

“I want Shiki to be happy, not angry or upset…I want my friend back” Neku thought

 

As he did that, her energy began to be neutralized causing her hair and demon skin to dissolve back to normal causing the demon energy to be dissolved. Once he sensed that Shiki was okay he opened his eyes

 

Shiki then opened her eyes and looked at Neku

 

“Nnngh! Neku? What happened? What did I do?” she said weakly

 

Neku then smiled at her

 

“It’s okay Shiki, your demon energy spiked up and made you attack me but then--

 

“WHAT?!” Shiki shouted

 

She then hanged her head

 

“I…I’m so sorry Neku…I didn’t mean to I…I just went crazy and…

 

Her eyes then began to water

 

“This is what it felt like when you were Damien isn’t it? Out of control…being a threat to everyone” she said weakly

 

Neku then hid his face and hid his hands in his pockets

 

“Shiki, it doesn’t matter. I know you would never hurt me…and…yeah…that’s how I felt…when I learned about what I did to you guys as a Demon Lord but…no matter what happens, you’re my friend. Just like how you enabled me to control my demon energy, I’ll do the same thing to you. You never gave up on me Shiki…so…I won’t do that to you either” he said weakly

 

Shiki then raised her head

 

“Really? Even after I tried to hurt you just now?” she said sadly

 

Neku then looked up to see her face and smiled

 

“Count on it! I know that wasn’t you Shiki, you’re my friend. I’ll always help you out if need it. That’s a promise he said with his hand on his waist

 

“Neku” Shiki said sweetly “thanks”

 

“Heh, don’t mention it” he said happily

 

Shiki then walked up to Neku and he placed his hand on her chest and closed his eyes causing her to do the same. Shiki then felt a warm breeze against her back as Neku focused his Angel energy on her.

 

“Don’t let your anger control you. I want Shiki to have control over her demon energy, no matter what” Neku thought

 

He then opened his eyes to see a white aura around Shiki and then lets go of her chest she then opened her eyes and smiled at Neku

 

“Thanks Neku” she said sweetly

 

Neku then smiled back at her

 

Feeling emotional, and guilty, Shiki then pulled Neku towards her and hugged him

 

“I…I didn’t mean it! I’m so sorry” Shiki said sadly

 

“I didn’t mean it either…back when…I did all of those things…I’m sorry too Shiki. Whenever you feel upset, think of something that makes you happy, so you can stay in control. We’ll all be there for you, no matter what crap that energy does to you” he said sweetly

 

Eri then walked up to them and picked up Mr. Mew smiling at them

 

“and I’ll be there for you too. Don’t forget that Shiki” Eri said smiling

 

“thanks guys” she said smiling letting go of Neku

 

After they let go of their embrace, Neku began to wonder what we could do to help Shiki feel more at ease which then gave him an idea


	25. Resting In Peace

They friends then all laughed and smiled happy that Shiki felt more in control of her demon form and then Neku opened a portal leading to the Composer district. Once they walked out of the portal all of Neku’s friends looked surprised 

 

“Whoa…so this is the Composer district?” Shiki said shocked

 

“Yeah…this is where I did my training to become a Limitless God” Neku replied

 

They saw islands floating in the air, the multiple colors of purples, oranges and pinks all in the sky, looking like sunset, the pool of arrival, and in the distance, they saw they were surrounded by pillars and skyscrapers that looked like they were in the Room of Reckoning 

 

“This place looks kind of spooky Rhyme said remarking on the buildings

 

“Yeah I can’t help but feel, creeped out here” Eri added

 

“Same here yo” Beat added

 

"I was at first too, but this place only looks like the Room of Reckoning, we're not actually there" he said reassuringly 

 

They both then flew around the district wondering where Mr. H and Joshua were unaware that they were in the Higher Ups’ District, their lair. In the room Mr. H presented his new secret reports to the Higher Ups, they were documents all recording Neku‘s progress from when he first entered the Higher Plane all the way until now.

 

“thank you Sanae” Aiden said as he took the documents

 

Mr. H then went full blast and bowed to the Death Angels

 

“You’re welcome sir” he replied

 

In their lair each one of them all stand on a flat blue oval of energy instead of being behind the bench. The lair itself looks a lot like a temple. Aiden told Mr. H to be at ease and return to his human form making him do just that. Joshua then looked to the head Maestros and bowed to them first before speaking

 

“Honorable Head Maestro, there is something I wish to propose to you” Joshua said seriously

 

“What is it that you wish to say?” Aiden asked

 

“As you are aware, Neku Sakuraba, Shiki Misaki, Daisukenojo and Raimu Bito all died at an early age. But more importantly, they died before they were meant to. Altering the time of passing is a risky choice and I’m aware of this, but all I ask is that you take that into consideration” Joshua said sternly

 

“those are valid points Joshua, as a God of Death you understand the laws of Life and Death. Although we are still figuring out how to manipulate death even now, there are still things left unsaid. It is true, all of those spirits were released from their flesh far too soon, however…the Higher Plane is their home now. Once the energy within humans is set free this becomes their home” Aiden replied

 

“it is true, young Death God, this realm is home to those who have passed on and they must accept this” Amonae added

 

Joshua then told them his sugjestion, knowing that it goes against one of the laws of Life and Death, but regardless of that, he wanted them to take into consideration what has happened

 

“although you are very young Joshua, you are a very powerful god, and understand what your duty as a bringer of death is. It is because of this we shall think about what you have stated” Aiden said smiling a little

 

“thank you sir” Joshua replied

 

They were then dismissed and Joshua and Mr. H went back to the Composer district. Once they teleported there, they sensed that Neku and his friends their smiling at how peaceful their presence was.

 

At first the teens searched for Mr. H and Joshua, since they couldn’t sense their presence they figured that they were somewhere else and would return soon. After Neku gave them a tour of the district showing them the Pool of Arrival, the Floating Islands of cities in the sky and the mountains trained on, they all took advantage of how peaceful the district was.

 

It was colorful, with many different shades and tints, with an orange tint at the horizon, like the entire district itself, was a painting. Neku and friends all laid on the ground on one of the mountains, and then felt soft breeze gently pulled the spikey hair on Neku‘s head. As they all laid there, Neku felt like he was in paradise surrounded by the scent of lilies.

 

The scent was intoxicating, never was he surrounded by such a pleasant scent…or at such a state of peace. It was almost as if they could sleep forever if they wanted.

 

They were so relaxed feeling warmth of the sun shining on them, as they all closed their eyes ready to sleep, to let the peace take them away, Neku and his friends all heard what sounded like a live band playing an acoustic version of Someday

Once the song had ended Neku opened his eyes a little and slightly turned his head to the right

 

“Mr. H?” he thought as he saw him playing the outro of the song on an acoustic guitar

 

“Great job guys, that’s a wrap” the angel said smiling.

 

The angels who played the song with him then all flew away and Mr. H flew over to Neku to see him and his friends all resting, making him smile

 

Once he landed towards them Neku opened his eyes again

 

“Hi there Mr. Hanekoma” Neku said smiling

 

“heh, well look at you all, all snoozing here in the Composer district. It must feel nice huh?” Mr. H said remarking on how relaxed everyone looked

 

The rest of Neku’s friends then opened their eyes

 

“Yeah…it feels great relaxing here” Shiki at peace

 

They then got up and Joshua floating down to them

 

“did you all have a nice nap?” Joshua said with his hands in his pockets

 

Eri, being bubbly as ever giggled

 

“You bet. I never felt so relaxed before” Eri replied

 

Neku then, feeling curious, asked Mr. H what he was doing earlier

 

"So...since when did you have a band Mr. H? I never knew you could play music too" he said smiling

 

Mr. H then smiled and laughed

 

"Heh, so you heard that huh? Well, we Angels really like music and art too, just like you kiddo. So when we have some free time, I like playing music with some of my friends here" the Angelic friend replied

 

Neku then chuckled with his right hand on his waist

 

"That's so rad. I never knew that it meant so much to you guys too. That would explain why you're able to Imprint through your  Graffiti as CAT too" Neku said happily

 

"You betcha" Mr. H replied

 

He then asked them what they wanted to do, and they all replied that they simply wanted to hangout in the district. Joshua then smiled at that response and sensed what Beat and Neku wanted to do

 

“If you all want to go skateboarding, just imagine a skate park” Joshua said smiling

 

He then walked away from them and touched part of the mountain with his finger causing it to dissolve into a white space

 

Neku then placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes

 

“Focus” he muttered

 

He then imagined what a skate park looks like causing one to appear. He then opened his eyes and Neku and Beat smiled at each other.

 

“Aw hells yeah, this’ll be tight yo” Beat said smiling

 

“heh damn straight it will” Neku said smiling at him

 

They then both imagined skate boards and grinded on rails, half pipes and other ramps in the park. Something that made Neku’s friends smile, they were happy to see Neku having to much fun. The boys were so good at it that they seemed like professional skaters.

 

Beat then leaped off of one of the ramps and then skated near the friends.

 

“Yo man, show me what you got Phones” Beat shouted wanting to see Neku’s skating skills

 

Neku then wore a smug smile as he leaped off of one of the ramps with a kick flip, which landed him on a rail, grinded on it and then skated towards a half pipe gaining so much speed that he did a hand stand on the edge of it with his left hand.

 

“Bwaaaah! How’d you get so good yo?!” Beat roared

 

“heh, that was nothin’” Neku said smugly

 

Due to the extra air he got, Neku then descended on the half pipe gaining so much speed that once he back flipped off of it, he got a huge amount of air landing towards his friends skating towards them. He then got off of the skateboard and smiled

 

“So, what’s next?” he said smug remarking on Beat’s shocked expression

 

“Phones?! What the hell?! How’d you get like dat yo?!” Beat shouted

 

Neku then scratched his head

 

“Uh, Beat…you’re the one who taught me skateboarding remember?” he said smiling

 

Beat then scratched his head

 

“Oh yeah! Heh…that was tight Phones” Beat said excided

 

“well….I kinda wanna see how strong you are now yo. Cause I know alla dat trainin’ you did gotta make you stronger yo” Beat said crossing his arms smiling

 

Neku then snapped his fingers making the skate park dissolve recreating the meadow again and got in his fighting stance.

 

“Heh alright then, Bring it!” Neku shouted

 

Mr. H and Joshua smiled at each other curious to see how he does against Beat. His friends then all backed up and gave them some room. They then ran towards each other with Neku taking advantage of his speed rather than his lack of strength.

 

Beat attempted to punch Neku with him dodging each one of his jabs. Neku then sweeped his leg beneath Beat making him trip. He then tackled Beat and was about to punch him but wasn’t able to thanks to Beat covering his face.

 

Beat then pushed him back making Neku trip but catching himself with his left hand. The two boys then punched and kicked each other with each one blocking the jabs.

 

Beat then charged towards Neku on his skate board with Neku teleporting behind him ramming his elbow into Beat’s back.

 

He then went rolling onto the ground with him firing energy at Neku. He then dodged the attacks and went into his mist form and teleported behind Beat and tackled him.

 

“Aw hell no, you ain’t gettin’ me that easily yo” Beat roared

 

Beat then leaned back to try to get Neku off of him, but he felt Neku’s grip tighten with him wrapping his feet around Beat

 

“Use your enemy’s strength against them” Neku thought

 

He then created a darkblue aura increasing his strength and black flipped Beat smashing him on the ground. He then charged up energy in his hand. Beat then got up and also charged energy in his hand.

 

Beat and Neku then fired their energies at each other making green and dark blue energies clash becoming so intense they were like a wild fire. As Neku and Beat jabbed at each other and kicked at each other they simultaneously released energy at each other.

 

Beat then saw Neku’s dark blue fire dissolve causing him to fire his energy at Neku again. Neku then fired his energy making it burst out of his hand with its true strength causing the energy to explode out of his hand. It had so much power to it that it spread like fire as it engulfed the area with sparks of light in the air.

 

Beat then generated a dome to block the fire and waited for the energy to dissolve, so he could dissolve his energy dome. Once it did Beat then lets it dissolve and looks at Neku amazed

 

“whoa…Phones…how…how’d you do that yo?” Beat said astonished

 

He saw Neku breathe heavily as the fire surged around him before it dissolved and after that Neku placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes

 

“Open up, your senses” he muttered

 

After that the fire dissolved and he opened his eyes

 

“What you just saw is what I can do when nothing holds me back, like when I fought Anthony with my own energy” Neku said crossing his arms

 

“Man…dat was tight yo!” Beat said excited

 

The then ran to Neku and gave him a noogie causing him to laugh. The other friends then all ran to him telling him that they were amazed by how strong he’s become. Mr. H and Joshua stood in the back admiring the scene from afar

 

“I’m glad he’s so happy, it’s about time he felt true freedom” Mr. H said telepathically

 

“I couldn’t agree more” Joshua replied

 

Neku and friends then wall walked back to Joshua and Mr. H and all told them that they wanted to rest more. Mr. H said that was a great idea and said he would be right back, that he had a few errands to run (to go talk to the Higher Ups again)

 

Then the angel became a ball of light and flew away

 

“See you when you get back Mr. H” Neku thought smiling

 

After that, all the friends laid on the soft grass of the meadow staring at the sky before them. Before long, all of them had gone to sleep filled with so much peace, with the exception of Neku and Rhyme

 

“Neku, you awake?” she said quietly

 

“Yeah…what’s up?” he said smiling

 

Rhyme then turned her head towards her

 

(their order being, Neku, Shiki to his right, Rhyme to his left, Beat next to his sister, Eri to his left and Joshua next to Eri)

 

“Heh, nothing…I just wanted to talk to you about something” she said smiling at him

 

“Well, lay it on me” Neku replied

 

Rhyme then giggled

 

“Remember when you said you were like a demon?” she asked

 

His smile then vanished

 

“Yeah…I know” Neku said darkly looking down

 

Seeing how that upset him, she remembered why she brought that up

 

“Well, you know it isn’t true don’t you Neku? Everyone experiences sadness, some more than others. It’s something we all have to bear at one point. But the difference between you and them, is that you were able to overcome that sadness Neku. From the Reapers’ Game all the way up to now, you’ve been fighting to maintain that happiness.” she said smiling

 

“No matter what happens, you’ll always be my friend, and you’ll always be my brother” Rhyme said looking at him

 

Neku then looked up at her and smiled

 

“Rhyme…you really mean it?” he said sweetly

 

Rhyme then giggled again

 

“Of course Neku, you’ve always been there for me and Beat, almost like you live with us, heh heh. So that’s just another reason why I’m so happy for you! I’m glad that you’re okay” Rhyme said gleaming

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“thanks Rhyme…I’m glad that you care about me too. I’ve been thinking about all the stuff that’s happened lately and, I remember something now. Back when Anthony controlled Beat, Mr. H, and Joshua, I could sense your Angel energy spiking up, like you wanted me to be okay, like you…wanted to protect me” he said smiling at her

 

“and that’s when I broke free and became an Angel and a Noise to fight off everyone, so I could stop Mr. H when he was controlled, and because of that Mr. H was able to heal you. I helped him get back to himself” Rhyme replied

 

“Rhyme…you saved me” Neku said filled with joy towards her

 

“Don’t mention it Neku, you’ve always been there for me, so…I wanted to be there for you” Rhyme said happily

 

The two friends then looked towards the sky

 

“You know, it’s funny Rhyme…back when Anthony used our friends to hurt me, and I rested in my room, before I woke up…I could hear all of you. It was almost like I was…starting to wake up or something. I couldn’t open my eyes but…I was slowly waking up, and I heard Beat talk about how he got to be so muscular” Neku remarked

 

Rhyme then giggled again

 

“I’m glad that we were able to reach out to you like that” she said sweetly

 

“were you able to hear us, you know, back when you Faded?” she asked

 

“A little bit” Neku answered “though…not at first. When I broke apart, there was nothing left. while I was those orbs…I couldn't even think. All I knew was that I could feel, like I had become the most basic form of energy, that I was burning but…nothing else”

 

“As I was there, unable to see, smell, touch or hear…I felt something. There was this warmth around me and it felt like I was being pulled towards something. After that, the voices came back…I could hear you guys. I guess that was when I was becoming more than just orbs, that you guys were recreating me” Neku added

 

“But everything was so…distant, like the sounds were muffled, all your voices were so faint. But then…I…I guess…that that's when the layers of my energy were getting stronger and that, that’s when you guys saved me. Heh, that has to be it 'cause little by little the sounds became clearer. Then before I knew it, I was a dead person again, like the UG…I was back” he said thoughtfully

 

“You know, that’s sort of like how Erasure is” Rhyme added “once the mind and soul is set free…all I could do was think and float in the UG. No one could see me but…I could think and sense what was happening. even though everything was pitch black and I couldn’t see, I could sense energy. It was almost like in the UG you have no control over your energy, your soul” Rhyme said a little sad

 

Neku then hanged his head a little

 

“I’m sorry Rhyme. I wish you never had to have gone through that, it sounds awful…you must’ve felt like crap not knowing what’s going on” Neku said empathetically

 

“It’s okay, what matters now is that we’re all safe again Neku. We have all eternity to enjoy ourselves” she said looking towards him

 

“Yeah…you’re right” Neku said looking at her “I’m glad that you’re with me Rhyme…that we’re family”

 

“Me too” she replied

 

At that moment they both felt a gentle breeze blow Neku’s spikes. His bright orange hair glowed within, the sunlight like his hair had become fire, a similar effect happened to Rhyme too.

 

They both then closed their eyes filled with peace as the scent of lilies guided them to sleep and they heard Angels singing again lulling them to sleep


	26. Among Friends

As Neku and his friends all slept filled with peace, someone had ended up laying on the grass of the meadow too a few feet behind Neku. It was a nice rest, lasting for what felt like at least an hour Neku then woke up and yawned then rubbed his eyes, and then sat up followed by scratching his back.

  


“Ah, man…that felt great” he muttered

  


He then stood up and looked behind him and saw his Guardian friend resting with his hands behind his head

  


“sweet, I’m glad you’re able to finally relax too Mr. H” Neku thought smiling at him

  


“He deserves it” Neku thought again “Mr. Hanekoma…he’s…done so much for me, always being their for me with his art and protecting from demons. Damn…you’re so amazing CAT”

  


Mr. H, who sensed Neku in front of him woke up and smiled at him

  


“heh, hey there Phones! How’d you sleep?” he said happy

  


Neku then chuckled

  


“That felt great…I’ve never had such a nice nap before. I didn’t even dream, just…slept” Neku said smiling at him again

  


Mr. H then got to his feet

  


“So…what do ya wanna do now kiddo?” he asked curious

  


Neku then crossed his arms and looked down

  


“Hmm, well…I wanna relax some more but, not without them” he replied

  


Neku then looked up at Mr. H and smiled

  


“I’ll wait for everyone to wake up” he said smiling

  


Mr. H noticed how happy Neku seemed

  


“Heh, he’s finally behaving like the time I saw him from the 104 building. He’s so happy that Phones just can’t help but smile” Mr. H thought happily

  


“that’s a good idea Phones. I’ll go hangout in the district for a bit before going to work on my job” Mr. H said laid back

  


“Alright, see you later” Neku said happily

  


Mr. H then waved good bye to Neku and became a ball of light and flew away

  


Neku then turned around and saw his friends still sleeping, he couldn’t but just smile happy that they’re able to sleep

  


“It’s…been so long since any of us were able to be happy like this, just to do something as simple as resting. I guess I could walk around a bit until they wake up” he thought

  


Neku then walked around the meadow feeling wind tug at the spikes of his hair again. As he walked sensing the smell of lilies again, he heard someone yawn causing him to turn around and see Eri walking up to him

  


“Hey Neku” she said smiling

  


“Hey Eri, what’s up?” he said laid back

  


“heh, nothing much other than that nap. Man that felt nice huh?” she said smiling

  


“You bet” Neku said with a smug smile

  


He then hanged his head and hid his hands in his pockets

  


“You know…there was honestly a point in my afterlife when I thought this…would never come true. That I would be hunted by Demons forever” he said weakly

  


“Neku” Eri said sadly

  


“I…never told them this but…there was a time when it just…got so hard to put up with all of that, that I wanted to runaway…and leave everyone. I…I found an alternate version of Shibuya, you know, when I traveled to alternate dimensions with Mr. H? well…when I got there, I witnessed first hand the entire population get destroyed” Neku said cringing at that memory

  


“What?! Neku that’s awful! How come that was an alternate reality?!” Eri said strongly

  


“Huh? She doesn’t know? …I guess Shiki didn’t tell her at that time what he did to me” Neku thought

  


“That’s because…The Composer of Shibuya, the Death God that has total control over the UG version…was using me as his Proxy to destroy Shibuya…Joshua…he was using me the whole time” he said sadly

  


Eri then looked back at Joshua and glared at him filled with anger

  


“How could you?!” Eri thought directed at him

  


She then looked back at Neku

  


“So then…if that was an alternate reality then that means that something happened to save the city!” Eri said happily

  


Neku then raised his head to look at her

  


“Yeah…Joshua spared Shibuya, and brought us all back to life but…before that happened, he wanted to play one last Game with me Eri. That Game would’ve decided Shibuya’s fate” he said darkly

  


Eri then hanged her head

  


“You mean…the dual?” Eri said weakly “Shiki told me that you…had to shoot him”

  


“That’s exactly it Eri” he said hiding his face again

  


He then flashed back to that moment, when Joshua revealed everything to him…that Neku was nothing more than a pawn, a little tool for Joshua to play with, and how it made him sick.

  


He remembered being so enraged that he felt knots in his stomach, and his eyes burning until he was filled with so much hate towards Joshua for hurting him, for using him, that he cried and how that hate and anger he felt made him squeeze his pistol to the point his arms shook.

  


“Neku? You okay?” Eri said remarking on how quiet he was

  


“Yeah…I’m fine” he said weakly

  


“Do you really think that in the long run, you not being able to shoot him is what saved the city?” she said curiously

  


Neku then raised his head to look at her

  


“Some times, I end up wondering that too you know? Was it really that simple, the fact that I couldn’t do it? But…now…I think that’s what it was Eri. Joshua was there to help strengthen my mind and Soul, and protect me so he could use me to destroy Shibuya but…he saw me change, he saw me clash, all of that was right in front of him” he said weakly

  


Neku then smiled knowing that Joshua’s his friend

  


“But in the end, he not only spared the city and brought me to life, he was…my friend. Yeah he DID backstab me, he DID use me but…unlike the other people that did to me…in the end…he showed me that he really does well….care…if he didn’t, then why bring me and my friends back to life right? Why spare the city giving us a place to go back to after beating the Reapers’ Game? Who knows…maybe Joshua thought that if I could clash and change…maybe…everyone else could too” Neku said smiling at her

  


Eri then giggled happy to see him smile

  


“You know, I was really angry at him at first, when Shiki first told be about all of that stuff and how he made you cry. To know that he hurt you like that…I couldn’t believe it Neku! And back then I didn’t even know you, heh heh, I didn’t even know what you looked like. In the long run I guess…Joshua’s not so bad huh?” she said smiling

  


At that moment Joshua was starting to wake up due him hearing his name being called over and over. He then sat up but was quiet curious as to what Neku would say about him.

  


Neku then chuckled

  


“Yeah, Joshua’s just…hard to get to know that’s all. One minute I can have an actual conversation with him, and actually find out we have a lot in common like how he was alone too and didn’t like people and that we view the world the same way. To him suddenly acting like a little snot, trying to make me mad” he said with a smug smile

  


“Needless to say Joshua is definitely a basket case heh heh. He actually made me really nervous in the UG…sometimes I even felt…unsafe around him. But he even gave me advice on opening up to people, to expand my world” he said smiling

  


“Joshua” Neku said thoughtfully “he…he really is the first friend I could relate too. Even Taki and I had our differences, Joshua and I obviously clash too, but with him…he really was just like me”

  


Joshua then smiled and got up

  


“I’m…glad you feel that way Neku” he said smiling at him

  


Neku and Eri then looked at him shocked, both shocked at him admitting that and startled to see him awake all of a sudden.

  


“J-Joshua?! How much of that did you hear?!” Neku said in his surprised position

  


“Yeah! Don’t you know Eavesdropping is rude?!” Eri said surprised

  


Joshua then chuckled and placed his hands in his pockets

  


“Well, although I am aware of that, still…it is kind of hard to take a nap when you hear people calling your name over and over. Hee hee, I must say I’m a little flattered by this situation” Joshua said pulling back his hair

  


Neku then chuckled

  


“Does nothing ever phase this guy? It’s like nothing ever ticks him off” Neku thought

  


Eri then crossed her arms

  


“Hmph still, that’s no excuse to do that. I bet you’d get mad if we did that to you” she insisted

  


Joshua then laughed a little

  


“Who’s to say how I’d feel about that? Anyways, do you two have any plans on what you’ll be doing as you wait for the others to wake up? After all, it’d be rather boring to simply stand here and do nothing” Joshua added

  


Eri and Neku then looked at each other and shrugged. Joshua then suggested that they all take a walk and then head back to where Beat, Shiki and Rhyme were sleeping.

  


“I need to continue my work after all. So I’m afraid I won’t be joining you” Joshua said waving goodbye

  


“Oh…alright see you later” Neku said smiling

  


After that then Eri and Neku walked around the district talking about how nice it feels here in he district. Neku then spotted Mr. H who had just flown into the district after completing another task as part of his job.

  


He then spotted Neku and Eri and flew down to them

  


“Hey there guys” Mr. H said hovering down to them

  


“Hey Mr. H” Neku said smiling

  


“Glad you’re here” Eri said happily

  


“So let me guess, they’re still snoozing huh? Heh heh, that’s one downside to being immortal, you could sleep for all eternity if you wanted” Mr. H said chuckling

  


“So…do you think we should wake them up?” Eri asked

  


“Nah, I’m sure they’ll wake up sooner or later” Mr. H replied

  


“Heh, you know, sleeping for eternity does sound kinda interesting” Neku added “Except you know…that in the Higher Plane it’s not a bad thing. You know, like being in some sort of Coma”

  


“Right” Mr. H said smiling “So what’s on your mind Phones? I can sense there’s something you wanna ask”

  


Neku then chuckled

  


“Well…before I dozed off, I heard you and the other Angels singing and playing music, so I was thinking, Is it possible to speak or sing any language you want here?” Neku said curiously

  


“That’s exactly it Phones” Mr. H said smiling

  


“in addition to your mind being one with your friends here in the Higher Plane, even more so than your mental link with them in the UG, there's no language barrier here. In the Higher Plane, you can sing or speak any language you want” he said smiling

  


“Man that’s so cool Mr. H” Neku said smiling at him

  


“Yeah, that way, everyone can talk to each other” Eri added

 

Mr. H then smiled

 

"You know, in addition to playing music with other Angels here, I sometimes lead a choir here in my spare time" he said with a chuckle

 

  
"really?" Eri said curious

  


“Heh heh, You bet. It's at the perfect pitch too with all the voices blending together. That’s where the phrase, Angelic Choir comes from. Often times humans associate a perfect pitched choir to be that of Angels singing. Kind of a neat little coincidence huh?” Mr. H said scratching his neck

  


“I’ll say” Neku said agreeing “to know music and art is so important to Angels it's, heh...so rad"  


Mr. H then chuckled

  


“Well, I’m glad you guys liked it so much” Mr. H said smiling

  


At that moment they all heard moaning and yawning

  


“Sounds like they’re finally awake. You guys go catch up with ‘em I’ve got some things to check up on” the angel added

  


“Gotta make sure his barrier’s doing okay” Mr. H thought

  


Neku then hanged his head a little, causing Mr. H to look at him curiously

  


“You seem like you’re always having to run off and go do something Mr. H. Don’t you ever want to relax? I mean, being a Guardian Angel has to be tough, or else everyone would be one. Don’t you ever get a break?” Neku said sadly

  


Mr. H then patted Neku’s head smiling at how he’s concerned about his health

  


“Don’t worry about me kiddo, although being a Guardian means I’m pretty busy, I WILL get a break, and I WILL see ya later. So don’t worry about me Phones, I’ll hang out with ya later okay?” Mr. H said smiling

  


Neku then raised his head and smiled at him

  


“Alright, I’m looking forward to it Mr. H” he said happily

  


“me too” Mr. H added  


 

He then became a ball of light and flew away again to go check up on Neku’s barrier

  


Eri and Neku then walked back to Shiki, Beat and Rhyme, who were waving at them. Once they caught up to them, they all decided to go back to the HP Shibuya. As they were about to leave the district Joshua said that he liked their company (yet another thing that made Neku’s friends look at him in shock)

  


Joshua, taking notice of this placed his hand on his chin looking at them curiously

  


“Hm? What’s wrong? If I didn’t know any better I’d say you all thought I hated you or something?” Joshua said puzzled

  


“It ain’t like dat yo…but, you a Composer man, you’re a god yo. We thought that you…would jus’ find it hard to be around us ‘n stuff” Beat said clasping his shoulder

  


“Well although that is true to an extent, I’ve learned that I can still be a powerful god of Death, and still be fearsome…while…being around…human souls. That I can still pass judgment upon the world if necessary, like in the Reapers’ Game” Joshua added

  


Beat Shiki and Rhyme then looked at him in shock

  


“That’s what the Game was for?” Rhyme said weakly

  


“Of course. Each Composer that’s assigned a city has complete authority over its UG version and whatever happens to the UG version effects the RG version, and not every UG is exactly the same due to it taking place in other cities and countries” Joshua explained

  


“So since I have control over the UG version I could do anything I wanted to Shibuya...well, almost anything. Destroying a city, killing on such a massive scale isn’t allowed. But I still wanted to pass judgment, feeling the humans there were too trapped within the influence of the city so, the Reapers’ Game was going to decide whether or not the humans there deserved to live” Joshua said laid back

  


Noticing how each of them became scared at the thought of the Reapers’ Game being all around the world and how Joshua really wanted to wipe out the city, the Composer then decided to snap them out of it by changing the subject

  


“Anyways, I’m sure you guys have things you want to do, so I’ll see you all later. Feel free to come here again” Joshua said with his hands in his pockets

  


“Oh…um…yeah thanks Joshua…we’ll see you later” Shiki said smiling trying to feel better

  


“MULTIPLE versions of the UG?! So then…it’s not just in Shibuya but…all over the world?!” Shiki thought terrified

  


They then all teleported back to their afterlife Shibuya gazing at the city

  


“It’s…kind of a scary thought huh? That all of this would’ve been gone if Joshua had passed Judgment?” Shiki said weakly

  


“Yeah…is it really true Neku? That the Reapers’ Game has multiple UGs?” Eri asked

  


Neku then hid his face and had his hands in his pockets again flashing back to what Megumi told him, making him get chills down his spine.

  


“Yeah” he said weakly “The Conductor, the Composer’s assistant, he was going to use the O-pins, you know, those red skull pins Shiki and I helped become popular as part of our mission? Well…they…they have the power to induce mind control on someone. He was going to make everyone have one thought, one ideal. He was going to start with Shibuya and then spread the O-pins all around the world, ruling the world from this city…

  


He then flashed back to what Megumi said about individuality, making him and Megumi total opposites.

  


_“All the ills of this world can be traced back to individuality”_

__  
  


“All the ills of the world can be traced back to individuality” Neku said darkly

  


“it’s funny” he added “as he spoke to me about his plan, the Conductor asked me to join hin. You know...during those three weeks…at one point during the Game, if he had asked me to help him change the city, I would’ve gladly said yes”

  


“But...that's awful” Eri said weakly

  


He then raised his head and smiled at her

  


“But thanks to you guys, my Partners…my…friends…I clashed…I changed! and because of that, I knew then that Shibuya should stay the way it is. Yeah it’s noisy, filled with people who obsess over fashion and trends and people can still get annoying, but…this city, no…the world itself, is filled with people who are just waiting for those moments. To expand their world, everything ends at their horizons” he said sincerely

 

 

 

“Neku” Shiki said sweetly while hugging Mr. Mew

  


Rhyme then giggled

  


“I’m glad you’re so free Neku…that we…are important to you” she said bashfully

  


Eri then smiled too

  


“Yeah, it’s nice to be needed” she said sweetly

  


Neku, feeling very bashful then scratched his head turning away from them

  


“Well…I…um...I was just being honest” he feeling shy and awkward

  


Beat then smiled at Neku crossing his arms

  


“Ain't no shame in that yo. That’s a good thing Phones” Beat said happily

  


Neku then turned back towards his friends and smiled at them

  


“Yeah…thanks Beat” he said sincerely

  


“Heh don’ mention it yo. Now come here!” Beat said to his “little brother”

  


He then pulled Neku over to him and gave him a nuggie causing Neku to smile and laugh, flashing back to when Beat did that to him the first time they hanged out in the RG

  


Shiki, Eri, and Rhyme all giggled happy to see Neku smiling again, to finally feel like his…new self, again. Wanting to enjoy their eternity with each other, they all walked around Shibuya making their vibe frequency like the weaker human souls.

  


They all avoided bumping into the crowd and ended up at Spain Hill where they all ate together. After that they decided to ride a train, just to enjoy the ride. While on the train, other spirits were on it too, making Neku and his friends feel almost like they were alive again.

  


They even saw some spirits get off and on the train. As they did, Neku and his friends smiled at each other wanting to ride it a little longer. Neku and his friends all felt so relaxed that they ended up resting on the train for a little bit.

  


As they all slept Mr. Mew ended up in Neku’s lap. After they slept a little, Neku and his friends opened their eyes and smiled at each other

  


“Heh, heh, I didn’t think we’d end up this relaxed” Neku said smiling

  


“Me either” Shiki added

  


The train then stopped again and they all exited the train and walked to Ramen Don to eat the restaurant’s ramen together, Neku imagined his favorite flavor of ramen, and all his friends did the same. He then pulled his funnel collar down to his neck so he could eat making Eri chuckle, causing him to look at her

  


“Huh? What’s so funny?” he asked

  


“Nothing…it’s just I think this is the first time I saw the length of your hair before, other than the time we dressed you up after shopping together” Eri said smiling

  


“It’s looks nice” she added

  


Neku then scratched his head

  


“thanks…I guess” he said a little awkward

  


Rhyme and Shiki then giggled since Neku isn’t used to someone complimenting him

  


“Neku, being complimented on how you look is a good thing” Rhyme said smiling

  


“I…I know. I’m just not used to that, that’s all” Neku said while he smiled back at her

  


Beat then couldn’t help but laugh remembering how long it’s been since they all had Ramen like this.

  


“Yo man, dis is jus’ like when we hang out in the RG again. You know, before alla that creepy stuff happened at school?” Beat said happily

  


“heh heh, yeah, you’re right” Neku said smiling

  


They then all dug into their meals and ate them before they got cold. As they all ate their ramen, they all began to slurp a little (common table manners in Japanese culture)

 

  


The two fashion loving friends then decided to go shopping. Although it’s not something he’s really fond of, Neku knew for her sake, that he should go, all he wants is to help maintain that control now knowing Shiki could snap.


	27. Deja Vu

Neku, Shiki and Eri all went to the numerous stores in Shibuya and eventually headed to the famous landmark Shopping mall, 104 and visited the many stores within it.

 

They all took turns changing clothes, and although he isn’t really obsessed with shopping, or finds any amusement in it, (and only goes shopping for clothes when his clothes are worn out, or if he needs a new size) he couldn’t help but feel good being with his friends. He was glad that Shiki and Eri were having so much fun, so he just couldn’t help but smile

 

“It’s funny” he thought as he and the girls walked to another store, carrying bags of clothes they want “But I can’t help but…sorta like this. It’s cool seeing them so happy”

 

They then left 104 and went to Lapin Angelique and wanted to try its Gothic clothing style on Neku, making him once again, their guinea pig.

 

Once Neku ended up in the store Shiki and Eri chose the clothes they wanted him to try on.

 

He wore black pants, with holes in them, a black shirt and a red tie, along with black shoes to match.

 

“Whoa, talk about déjà vu…I think you wore this same outfit in the Reapers’ Game once” Shiki said smiling

 

Neku then looked at himself in a mirror and smiled a little

 

“heh heh, I think you’re right. That would explain why this looks familiar to me” Neku said smiling

 

Shiki and Eri then giggled

 

“You know, you pull off the Goth style pretty well” Eri said smiling

 

“Really you think?” Neku said scratching his head bashfully

 

“totally, I could never pull that look off” Eri insisted

 

Neku then smiled at her and chuckled

 

“Although I usually don’t wear these kind of clothes, they do feel…nice” Neku said remarking on the material

 

They all then laughed and smiled at each other all trying on some new clothes. After doing this for a while, they all left Lapin Angelique

 

After that they went to other stores getting Neku to wear some Punk style clothing from Tigre Punks. Eri pointed out that he looks good in the punk style and thinks it looks great on him.

 

“Punk style huh? Heh heh, sweet. I’ve never really gone here outside of the Reapers’ Game” Neku said smiling at her

 

“So how do I look?” Shiki asked

 

She too was wearing Punk style clothes making Eri and Neku look in shock. Needless to say it was quite a transformation for Shiki.

 

To go from her usual simple, yet still stylish look to wearing an outfit almost identical to an employee there (Nana Majima)

 

“Whoa…you look so awesome Shiki, who would’ve thought you could pull off Punk” Eri said smiling

 

Neku then smiled at her with part of his wristband in his pocket and left hand upward

 

“You look awesome” he said smiling

 

Eri, being the fashion loving teen she is, observed Shiki and nodded her head in approval.

 

“there’s only one thing I think we should fix” she said with a smug smile

 

“Like what?” Shiki said curiously

 

Eri then walked up to her long time friend

 

“You’re hair isn’t crazy enough” she said smiling

 

Eri then messed with Shiki’s hair making it very messy looking

 

She then backed up and looked at Shiki

 

“Much better” Eri said happily

 

Neku, then looked at the messy hair and nodded agreeing with Eri

 

“It sorta, completes the look I guess…kinda like how Bass, helps add more depth to the music” Neku said thoughtfully

 

Eri and Shiki then giggled seeing how Neku was at least trying to be involved. They then snapped their fingers getting their usual looks back

 

“Hmm, you know Neku…you’re style is a little…well uh how do I put this?” Eri said with her pointer finger on her chin

 

Neku then couldn’t help but flash back to when Shiki did the same thing to him in the UG, talk about his style

 

“huh? what’s wrong with my style?” Neku asked scratching his head

 

“Nothing, nothing it’s just it’s a little…bland” Eri remarked

 

“bland?” Neku thought “Well…I don’t know a lot about clothes and stuff so…am I doing something wrong?”

 

“What do you mean bland? I like it…it looks…cool. I wear what I want to wear” Neku said with his left hand outward

 

Eri waved her hands feeling nervous

 

“No no no! I didn’t mean that it looks bad! Just bland! Everything matches Neku! It looks kinda…well um…well if you like it, that’s good but still it matches WAY too much!” She said flailing her hands

 

Neku then scratched his head again feeling bashful

 

“Suddenly I feel a little…awkward…is it REALLY that important that my clothes match? I kinda thought that was the point…people don’t run around with one sock being purple and the other one rainbow colored” Neku thought

 

Shiki then observed Neku’s clothing pressing the ridge of the glasses against her nose

 

“Well, although that is true to an extent Eri. I for one, think it’s cool” She said sternly

 

“You see, Neku, whether he realized it or not, created a sense of contrast with the clothing” Shiki explained

 

“Contrast?” Neku thought “What, so now I’m some sort of painting?”

 

“Neku’s shirt for instance is a dark color, it’s gray with a blueish tint to it, along with the indigo stripes on it outlined in gold. The same design of his shoes” Shiki explained

 

“Whereas, his shorts are white making it stand out against the dark color of the shirt. On top of that this makes Neku’s hair pop more due to it being a bright color going against the dark colors of his shirt” Shiki added

 

Eri then nodded her head agreeing

 

“I see what you mean. due to Neku’s clothing consisting of dark colors it makes the warm colors stand out more. That, being his hair. Very artsy Neku!” Eri said smiling

 

Neku then looked at them in shock, unaware how much Art applies in fashion to an extent

 

“Whoa…that was…so epic” he said weakly

 

“Huh?” they both exclaimed

 

Neku then smiled

 

“I never really thought of clothing like that. I never knew how much Art goes behind all of that. It’s sorta like graffiti. When you want to make your letters pop, you use colors that are either within the same spectrum, or like the case of CAT’s Tagmural, you use tons of color. Sometimes even using colors that clash with each other to make them pop more” Neku exclaimed with his right hand in his pocket and left hand going upward smiling

 

The girls then giggled

 

“that’s so cool” Eri said smiling

 

“Yeah, just another reason why I love graffiti…well…when it’s done FOR REAL. You know, by an actual graffiti artist?” Neku said happily

 

“Definitely, it’s really cool when it’s done like that” Shiki added

 

The three teens then walked out of the mall and Neku teleported the clothes they bought to their houses. Since unlike most of their shopping trips, some spirits decided to work at 104 and other stores they actually had to pay for the clothes they found. They then head back inside the mall just to walk around a bit

 

As they did Neku sensed Shiki’s Demon energy spiking up again. Due to her being weaker than Neku it was hurting her at a much faster rate than him. But what made it all even worse, was that this time, she didn’t even feel anything. The energy was consuming her from the inside.

 

“Shiki? Are you okay?” Neku asked concerned

 

“Yeah I’m fine, why do you ask?” she said sweetly

 

“Crap! She can’t even sense it?!” Neku thought even more troubled

 

He then stopped walking and generated Angel energy causing the girls to stop walking and look at Neku. He then placed his hands on her shoulders.

 

“Neku? What’s going on?” Shiki said confused

 

“Your demon energy is consuming you from the inside…it’s trying to take over you…without you ever noticing it” he said darkly

 

Shiki then gasped filled with fear

 

“WHAT?! I don’t want to be a killer! Isn’t there anything you can do?!” Shiki cried out

 

“Yeah, I need you to close your eyes. I’m gonna try to focus my Angel energy on yours. Since we both have Mr. H’s energy, I should be able to take advantage of that and help neutralize your Demon energy” he said sternly

 

“Okay” Shiki said seriously

 

She then closed her eyes and Neku closed his. But the moment he tried to neutralize it, it’s as if the demon energy was resisting Neku. It began to hurt Shiki making her whimper as she grew demon skin again.

 

“Shiki, you gotta fight this! Please…don’t give up” Neku said telepathically

 

“I…I’ll try” she said out loud

 

The energy began to consume her more and more to the point Neku began to feel his hands burn

 

“Nnngh! C’mon Shiki! I know you can control this!” Neku whimpered

 

Her demon energy began to overpower her Angel energy causing her to get a black fire around her that blasted Neku away from her making him land on his back.

 

“Neku!” Eri yelled running to him

 

He then got up and looked at Shiki filled with shock

 

She then lets out a dark little laugh smiling with shark-like teeth

 

“I guess I’m not the weak little girl you once knew anymore” she said slyly

 

She then snapped her fingers becoming her demon form, wearing a new outfit (while also making a barrier around 104 at the same time, so none of Neku's other friends could sense he was in pain). It was the blue dress Neku had originally created for her back when he was the Demon Lord. Seeing the dress again then made Neku flashback to when they were dancing.

 

 

"I...I did that to her? I made her feel uncomfortable?" he thought still in shock

 

 

Shiki then snapped her fingers making the dress become a deep blood red color with a dark grayish blue trim and then took off her glasses making the glass instantly shatter. She then tosses it on the ground and charged up to Neku, who stood filled with shock over what’s become of her.

 

 

"Shiki" Neku said heartbroken

 

 

“Neku watch out!” Eri shouted

 

 

She then held her hand out making a gust of wind towards Neku to push him out of the way. He then summoned Composer energy in his hands

 

 

“thanks Eri…I really needed that” he said weakly

 

 

Neku then ran towards Shiki determined to neutralize her energy, but as he ran Shiki teleported away from him.

 

Knowing how crafty demons are, Neku turned around to see Shiki who shot her demon energy at him making him go flying onto the ground.

 

“Nnngh! Dammit…even if she’s not a Staccato Demon…Virtuoso Demons…what I was when I was a Demon Lord, are really strong. If I’m not careful Shiki could…kill me” he thought frustrated

 

Shiki then slashed Neku dozens of times making him scream in pain. Seeing this from the Composer district, Mr. H generated his Angel wings and was about to go into the portal (what he and Joshua watch over Neku from) and get involved but someone stopped him

 

“Wait” Joshua said holding out his hand “Let’s see if Neku can handle this. He’s a lot stronger now Mr. H. Neku can do this”

 

Shiki kept slashing Neku and had three clones appear all join in, slashing him from all sides. They then fired demon energy at Neku from all sides making him scream. Enraged, Eri ran towards Shiki determined to help Neku stop her.

 

“Neku! LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Eri screamed

 

She then fired Angel energy at the real Shiki (the one in front of Neku) who turned towards Eri and blocked the Angel energy with her left hand, and clenched it into a fist dissolving the energy making Eri look in shock.

 

“What?! How did you--

 

Shiki then fired demon energy at her friend, and Eri dodged it. This then made Shiki snap her fingers freezing Eri in place, and looked back towards Neku. She then lowered her hand making the clones stop firing energy causing Neku to slam onto the floor laying on his hands and knees. And yet, regardless of the pain he felt, Neku got back up panting out of breath.

 

“It’s gonna take more than that to kill me” he said darkly

 

“This is REALLY, REALLY, bad! Can't keep this up…that could’ve killed me…If I take another hit like that...I don't think I can take it" Neku thought worried

 

He then looked ahead to see Eri frozen in place

 

“Good” he thought “If I set a barrier right where she is…she won’t feel me use my God form. I have to use it…even if it’s just for a little while. I gotta restrain Shiki”

 

 

Demon Shiki then smiled at Neku's fatigue and snapped her fingers, making the mannequins of the clothing stores in 104 come alive but their fingernails had claws instead and Shiki then generated multiple needles in the air pointed at Neku

 

 

"Why so surprised? After all...I'm a Seamstress. I always have a few needles handy" Shiki said slyly

 

 

Shiki then smiles at Neku's terror

 

"Kill him" the demon Shiki commanded her puppets

 

At that moment her Psychomancy kicked in and all the Mannequins charged at Neku. He dodges the swipes of the one in front of him, but a mannequin latches onto him from behind, making him try to squirm free as he felt like it was crushing him, causing Shiki to then fire her needles at Neku, stabbing through his chest and arms making Neku scream to the point of crying.

 

He then closes his eyes and opens them unleashing an explosion blasting the mannequins away from him, causing another one to slash him from the right side and another one to slash him from the left. Another mannequin manages to wrap around Neku again making him feel like he's getting crushed again

 

"Nnnngh! Let go!" Neku cried out

 

Shiki then grabbed Neku's collar and pulled it down trying to choak him but Neku smacked her hand away. Shiki then smiled and this time zig-zagged around Neku stabbing him with her needles over and over making Neku scream.

 

"Stop...GET AWAAAAAY!" Eri cried out

 

 

She then became her Angel form and started punching the Mannequins away from Neku and saw him fall forward clinging onto his left arm, panting out of breath. Eri then immediately places her hand on his shoulder and healed all his wounds and removing the needles in him, but this only made Shiki then fire Demon energy at them both making them dodge the attack. Eri then powered down to her normal form.

 

"Neku come on!" She said firmly

 

"Right behind you!" Neku yelled back

 

They then fought back to back with them both blowing up the mannequins together and Eri teleports to Shiki and tackles her to the ground causing her to look at her friend filled with heartache, then demon Shiki blasts Eri back with demon energy from her right hand and gets back up. At that moment, right when Neku was about to set the barrier of God energy, Shike began to squeeze her hair and scream in pain, making the clones dissolve and she began to return to her normal self, (making the barrier around 104 dissolve) including her glasses return to her face, making Neku gasp, startled.

 

"That's it! Fight it Shiki! I know you can!" he yelled shaking his fist

 

 

He then sees her squeeze his hair even more and scream before falling forward nearly passing out, making him immediately catch her, steading her with by holding her shoulders and then slid his hands down to hers.

 

"Shiki! Shiki are you--"

 

but before he could finish his sentence, he sees Shiki look up at him with tired eyes and he looks at her tired as well, being face to face. Subconsciously wanting to feel each other, to use that sense of touch to feel better, Shiki and Neku became dead humans again, making their sense of touch stronger than when they're ghosts. After looking at each other for a few seconds, they then kiss on the lip and then closed their eyes, wrapping their arms against each other. As that happened for a few seconds, Shiki and Neku then pull each other away, looking shocked and confused.

 

"Wh-Why did you?" They both said to each other

 

Shiki then hanged her head

 

 

"I-I don't know Neku...I just felt so tired...so confused and the next thing I knew I--"

 

she then feels someone place their hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Neku

 

 

"I felt the same way too. All that really matters is that you're okay...right?" he said worried

 

"Yeah...I think so" Shiki said weakly

 

 

They then look to see Eri looking at them in shock and she ran towards them and asked if they were sure they're okay, causing them both to reassure Eri they were. At that moment though, Shiki felt another headache and squeezed her hair and began trembling in pain

 

"Shiki!" they both cried

 

 

At that moment, Shiki's demon form then took over, making her glasses disappear and returning her to her red dress. Before they could do anything, they see Shiki then pull Neku towards her and kiss him on the lips again, making Neku's demon energy begin to spike up and act out of his control. He then immediately opened his eyes and felt his body burn as he became his Demon form again wearing his tuxedo.

 

 

"NOOOO!" Eri screamed

 

 

" **stay with me. Be with me** " Shiki imprinted

 

Shiki then wrapped her arms around Demon Lord Neku and laid her head on his shoulder whispering in his ear another imprint

 

 

" **Rule with me. Be mine** " Shiki said slyly

 

"No...I...I don't--

 

" **Yes you do** "

 

Demon Shiki then lays her forehead against Neku's

 

" **Come with me. They need their old King to return** "

 

"I...I don't want to rule the demon realm again." Neku said weakly

 

Shiki then rubs her fingers against Neku's right cheek and kiss his lips

 

" **Their king will return. Rule the Demon Realm with me. Be with me, stay with me** "

 

"Neku...NEKU SNAP OUT OF IT!" Eri screamed

 

she then looks in horror seeing Demon Shiki open a red and black portal to the demon realm with Neku following her

 

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HIM!" she cried out

 

She then feels her eyes water at the thought of losing Neku again, that everything his friends went through to save him was about to be thrown away.

 

"Stop...Stop it...NEKUUUUU!" Eri desperately cried

 

 

She then opens her eyes and became her Angel form and blasted both friends with an Angel Meteor and powered down back to normal as she then teleported to Neku, and teleported him away from Shiki and surrounded him with an Angel aura, making Neku no longer hypnotized and powered down to his normal form too.

 

"Shiki...I'm so sorry" Eri said sadly

 

 

"Nnngh! Eri...wha...what happened?" Neku said while squeezing his hair

 

 

"Shiki was about to take to the Demon Realm! it's like she hypnotized you or something! You okay?!" Eri said worried, placing her hand on his shoulder

 

"Nnngh! Y-Yeah, I'll be fine" Neku said firmly

 

 

He then places his hands on his head and closes his eyes trying to concentrate, but thanks to how he still feels exhausted (though not covered in wounds like before) he wasn't able to access his God form right away. Neku then opened his eyes revealing them to being light blue and pupiless, along with his body being completely white, (while still having his hair color and clothes) he was halfway through the transformation.

 

(Ordinarily, he could instantly go into that form, but due to how weak he feels, it’s taking longer)

 

Shiki then gets up and charged up Demon energy in her right hand again smiling at Neku

 

“You’re weak Neku. I can sense it” she said darkly “You’ve always been good at tolerating pain. I can sense your memories and see that you played the Reapers’ Game. I also sense how when you fought extremely powerful Reapers or Noise, that they would sometimes overwhelm you making you nearly pass out, causing you to use your right arm as a sort of crutch to hang on to, and yet, no matter how much pain you were in, you'd always find a way to fight back” she said darkly

 

 

She then walked closer to Neku making her smile grow nearly ear to ear

 

"Let's test your tolerance to pain shall we?" Shiki said slyly

 

“C’mon, just a bit longer!” Neku thought

 

She then teleports in front of Neku causing him to teleport away from her, making Eri blast more Angel energy at her friend causing Shiki to smack Eri away from her with so much force, she knocks out Eri. Neku then holds his hand out towards her to make a barrier around her to keep Eri safe. Shiki then teleports to Neku again and began trying to slash his body, with Neku dodging each swipe. He then tries to grab her arm to restrain her, but the moment he did, Shiki then grabbed Neku by his collar and began electrocuting him with Demon energy making Neku scream to the point he cried and stabs his left arm with her other hand

 

The moment he screamed from that wound Beat felt a sharp pain in his head.

 

“OW! What the hell?!…Phones” Beat said weakly

 

“Nnngh! I feel it too! something's wrong!” Rhyme added

 

“Someone’s hurtin’ him!” Beat roared

 

"yeah..Nnngh! I feel it. it's like someone scratched him" Rhyme said worried

 

 

“Beat! Your Pact with Neku is stronger than mine since your Pact was from the UG up to now! Can you sense where he is?!” Rhyme said urgently

 

“yeah, I’ll take ya to him yo! C’mon Rhyme, let’s bounce!” Beat roared

 

He then got his skateboard and picked Rhyme taking her to where he could sense Neku’s energy. He then took Rhyme to the 104 shopping mall.

 

Once they got inside they saw Eri knocked out.

 

“No! Who did this do to Eri yo?!” Beat shouted

 

“I don’t know! This is so messed up! I’ll heal Eri and--

 

They then saw Shiki smiling as she punched Neku’s face (making Beat realize she must have attacked Eri) making him whimper in pain with each hit.

 

“NEKU!” Beat and Rhyme shouted

 

They both ran towards him but ran into the barrier Neku made for Eri.

 

“Nngh! A wall?! Stupid wall! I’mma break dis!” Beat shouted

 

“Beat don’t!” Neku said telepathically “I made that so Eri…and now you and Rhyme…don’t feel my God energy. I…I’ve got this. I just have to calm Shiki down. Her demon energy’s made her go crazy”

 

Before Beat could even respond, Neku was finally able to restrain Shiki. She was about to slam her fist onto Neku’s head again as he clenched her fist blocking her.

 

“ **Stop** ” he imprinted

 

With that single word, Shiki was now frozen and Neku then lowered her hand and closed her eyes. He then placed his hands on Shiki’s shoulders and closed his eyes causing his gold aura to dance like fire.

 

“I’ll get you out Shiki…that’s a promise” he said smiling

 

At that moment he then sent his mind into Shiki’s (taking advantage of how he can do anything in his God form, or with God energy)

 

The barrier then went away and Beat ran towards Neku leaving Rhyme to heal Eri. He then saw both Shiki and Neku with their eyes closed and Neku powered down to his normal state covered in scratches including the wound on his left arm making his soul leak energy.

 

“Phones” Beat said sadly remarking on Neku’s condition

 

Neku then opened his eyes and saw he was in the 104 mall (due to it holding a lot of value to Shiki since she loves shopping so much) but saw that everything looked burnt like the building was set on fire at one point. Clothes were torn, stores were pitch black from being closed or out of business, and the entire building was deserted.

 

“104?” Neku thought confused

 

He then crossed his arms pondering what was going on

 

“Wait…did it not work? Did I mess up and not transfer my mind to Shiki? But…if I messed up then Beat, Eri, and Rhyme would be here too”

 

He then flashed back to what Joshua said about people and their minds in the UG

 

“Wait a minute…that’s right! Joshua said that everyone has their own sense of logic, that the way one person thinks will be the total opposite of someone else, so then…according to Shiki’s logic, 104 is really important to her. Which is why her demon energy has messed this place up. But if it DID mess this up that means that…

 

Neku then stood in shock

 

“When the demon energy was transferred to her…when I was Damien again…I was sending that to her mind at the same time?!” he said nervously

 

Neku then hid his face in his funnel collar with his hands in his pockets

 

“Heh, this is…just like when my demon energy took over me…if Clarissa hadn’t had trapped me in my room…Where would I have ended up? Shiki’s here cause 104 means a lot to her. So if that’s the case, I guess then I’d end up at Udagawa” he thought filled with sadness

 

He then leaped into the air and flew around the building

 

“Shiki” he muttered “she has to be here somewhere”

 

after flying for a while, checking inside the other stores desperate to find Shiki, he then took an escalator up to another part of the mall to see that this floor was almost pitch black, like it was night time inside the building. He kept walking hoping to find her until he spotted something. Through the corner of his eye, he saw something green.

 

Neku then turned around and sure enough, there was his friend.

 

“Shiki!” he cried out but she ignored him

 

He then noticed that Mr. Mew was slouching as the toy walked, like Mr. Mew was sad

 

Neku then walked up to Shiki and turned her towards him noticing she hanged her head refusing to look at him

 

“Shiki…c’mon look at me! Don’t you get what’s happened? Your Demon energy is apart of your mind now! It’s hurting you!” Neku said concerned

 

She then raised her head and looked at Neku filled with anger.

 

“what’re you doing here?” she snarled

 

Neku then gasped shocked at her remark

 

“What?! Shiki I came here to get you back! Your demon energy took control over you, just like how it did that to me!” Neku roared

 

“So? Don’t you get it? Now I’m stronger than ever before! Right behind your rank as a Demon! I can do anything I want now! You didn’t have to come here!” Shiki said angrily

 

Hearing her say that stung Neku making him look at her in disbelief

 

“Shiki…you…you don’t mean that. I know you don’t! You’ve never given up on me, so are you really saying you want me to give up on you?” he said hiding his face

 

Shiki then crossed her arms

 

“I don’t need you anymore Neku, I don't even like you. you don't mean anything now, so get out” she said darkly causing Neku to look at her with shock

 

She then walked away from him causing him to look at Shiki in shock filled with sadness

 

“Shiki? Why…why would you…

 

he then flashed back to his old friends all abandoning him some completely ignoring him, like he never existed as they walked away from him

 

“No!” Neku said out loud blocking those thoughts as hid his face in his collar and hands in his pockets

 

“Shiki would never ditch me like this…I know she wouldn’t. that wasn't her, she wouldn't talk like that. her demon energy’s messed with her head but…at least it’s not as bad as mine. She knows my name, she knows who I am” he said in his head

 

He then looked up and started to walk towards Shiki causing her to get irritated and begin to walk faster trying to get away from him, causing Neku to speed up too. She then went faster and faster bursting into a run making Neku run after her.

 

"Shiki" Neku thought sadly as he ran "You gotta come back! PLEASE COME BACK! DON'T THROW EVERYTHING AWAY!"

 

she then ran faster trying to get away from him

 

 

"Why won't he go away?! I don't need him anymore! No one even likes me" Shiki said in her head

 

 

"Shiki!" Neku yelled "Shiki comeback! I'm not gonna leave you!"

 

 

“WHY?! WHY WON’T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE?!” Shiki screamed

 

Neku then teleported in front of her

 

“Cause I’m your friend” he said sadly

 

“Friend? Rrrgh! YOU DIDN‘T HAVE TO COME HERE! I DON'T NEED YOU! I WANT TO HAVE THIS POWER! I WANT YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE!” Shiki yelled at him

 

“Dammit, it’s already making her push me away more” Neku thought

 

“Shiki, you’re not controlling this power, it’s controlling you! Look around you! Is THIS the way 104 usually looks like?” Neku shouted

 

She then looked around and shrugged

 

“That doesn’t matter, now…I’m finally strong Neku! I don’t need to leave here! I don't WANT to leave here! I’m finally able to do anything! Don’t you see that?! And with this Demon energy I’m finally powerful! I don't feel so weak and useless anymore!” Shiki said angrily

 

Neku starred at her shocked that she was going back

 

"that's what this is about?" he said weakly "Shiki you're not useless and you're not weak! You've never been that way! You were always there helping in the Reapers' Game, and you were there for me in the Angels' Game too! You've always been there for me Shiki" Neku said sternly with his left hand outward

 

Shiki then sighed

 

"You're just saying that Neku. You're pitying me. you don't mean it. Besides, I know deep down that you'll just forget about me. I don't need you, I don't need anyone...only the demon energy. Now I'm not weak and worthless, now I'm powerful" she said darkly

 

 

Neku then yelled at Shiki desperate to get through to her

 

“What?!" Neku said shocked "That's not true Shiki! You gotta believe me! Your mind is making you believe things that aren't even real! I don't pity you, and I mean everything that I say! and how could you honestly say that?! How could I forget the first real friend I've had in years?!"

 

Neku then continued determined to tell Shiki all the great things she's done, to remind her of how she's helped him

 

"Even if you are powerful as a Demon, that’s not your only energy remember? You have Angel energy and YOUR energy inside you, and you’re not weak! You never were! You helped me take down a Game Master remember?! and on top of that, you helped me fight the Conductor, a Reaper right behind the Composer in terms of power. Do you understand what that means?! You helped me take down a Reaper that's right behind a God of Death, right behind Joshua's power!”

 

Shiki then looked at him confused

 

“You…really think that means something? that I'm strong?” she said weakly

 

“Yeah...I really do…you’ve always been there for me Shiki. From the UG all the way until now…you’ve gotten a lot stronger to the point you did the impossible. You became an Angel…to fight to get me back. You don’t see it but…knowing that you went through all of that, means…a lot since you did all of that just to bring me back” Neku said with his left hand towards her

 

“So don’t give up and let this energy control you! Please! Please don’t do that Shiki! Cause…if you slip back, feeling that you’re worthless again, then who’s to say that I won’t slip back too?” he said sadly

 

“Neku? You really mean that? That you’d go down…if I did too?” Shiki said dryly though a little interested

 

Neku then hid his face again

 

“I…I guess…I do. I mean, if it’s that easy to lose yourself…then why did I change? Why was I willing to do that, knowing that I could go back to who I use to be?”

 

Shiki then hanged her head

 

"He's just saying what I want to hear" Shiki said outloud "He doesn't care about me...no one does. No one needs me, no one wants me...no one loves me. I was better off in the UG, I should've stayed dead."

 

hearing her say that was like a punch in the stomach to Neku, making him look at her stunned

 

"No" Neku weakly

 

"Shiki...that's not true!" he said trying to get through to her

 

"yes it is" she replied monotone "I know it is. Everyone's better off without me. I'm not very memorable, I'm just a boring, stupid, loser of a girl. You'll just forget about me...and I know you like Eri more than me too. Eri's prettier than me, smarter than me, she's a better version of me. You're better off being with her than me. That's why I wanted to be her in the UG."

 

"No" Neku repeated "Shiki...how can you say that? Don't you remember what Eri said back when we saw her from the UG? You're not better off being dead! She missed you! she wanted you back! She wanted to tell you that she was sorry! How can you say you're not memorable when she remembered you? You're not boring or stupid, or a loser! and that's not true Shiki, that's a lie! I don't like Eri more than you! and I don't care that you looked like her in the UG, that was never really you!"

 

“Do you hear what I’m saying?” Neku said weakly

 

But no response. The demon energy began to spike up more destroying more of her mind making the 104 building begin to dissolve into a black space causing Neku to look around feeling nervous followed by feeling a headache making him pant out of breath.

 

"Nnngh! this is really bad, the demon energy's spiking up to the point it's hurting me just to be here...still, I can't just leave her. I'll get through this...somehow" Neku thought

 

the pain then stopped causing Shiki and Neku to look at each other in silence. as he looked at her, Neku saw a blank almost bored, unfeeling look on Shiki's face. little by little she was losing all ties to Neku and her friends, starting to not even want to look at him.

 

The black space swallowed up more of the mall until both Shiki and Neku were just standing two separate chunks of the floor

 

“Shiki!” Neku yelled “Don’t let this hurt you! I’m not leaving this place without you! You gotta snap out of this!”

 

She remained silent again causing Neku to feel saddened by how he was losing his friend, causing him to hide his face in his collar and hands in his pockets

 

“Why go through all of this for me? You don’t need me…everything you've said...it's just a lie to try to make me happy. People do it all the time after all. Just saying things to make someone feel better. I’m a demon now, I don't want to go back besides, it's not like anyone cares about me. I'm worthless. So…just leave me alone and--

 

“Dammit don’t you hear yourself?!” Neku said sharply shaking his first

 

he couldn't help but feel hurt over how Shiki had just accused him of lying to her causing Neku to hide his face in his bangs and hide his hands in his pockets again. As he did, he feelt extremely nervous about the fact that he wasn't reaching her.

 

"What if...what if I can't help her? I can't just leave her but...she doesn't even want me to help her. Shiki...I'm not gonna let you stay like this but...what if it's too late? What if I can't save her?! what if I can't do anything and--

 

the moment Neku began to doubt himself, he looked up at Shiki in shock hearing her repeat certain words over and over again, almost like an imprint

 

"I'm worthless, no one needs me, no one cares, I'm better off being dead. I'm worthless, no one needs me, no one cares, I'm better off being dead. I'm worthless, no one needs me, no one cares, I'm better off being dead. I'm worthless, no one needs me, no one cares, I'm better off being dead."

 

he then felt a burning sensation all around him and Shiki and it became so intense that he was squeezing his hair cringing in pain, but as he did, eventhough he was in pain, it just made him even more determined to get her out and to make her stop saying those things about herself.

 

"RRRGH! SHUT UP!" he screamed

 

Shiki then just stared at him with blank eyes and was silent

 

knowing this was her demon energy consuming her even more, he hung his head with his hands balled up into fists, becoming enraged at the thought of losing the first person he ever trusted to demon energy and frustrated at how no matter what he says to help her, she can't escape it.

 

"There's not much time left" Neku thought "I feel it, her demon energy's getting so intense that just being this close to her burns me. Just hang in there Shiki, I'll get you out of this"

 

“Why?” Neku said weakly

 

He then raised his head up and screamed at her

 

“Why don’t you hear me?! Why don’t you understand what I’m saying?! Don’t you get it?! I came here FOR YOU! I wanted to be with YOU again! You’re my friend Shiki, and nothing’s gonna change that! You’re strong on your own, you don’t need to rely on demon energy! and there ARE people who care about you, you're not worthless!” he yelled shaking his fist

 

“you…really did all of this for me?” Shiki said weakly like she was still trying to take everything in

 

“Of course I did! You’re always telling me how you’re glad you met me, and how you like being with me! I feel the same way! You were my partner, and you…you were the first person that I could sort of get where they're coming from, that I could understand your sadness because I realized you were just as lost as me! Don’t you think I feel like crap too?! I hate seeing you like this!” Neku yelled

 

Neku then hanged his head and sighed making himself calm down

 

“If you can’t hear me…if…I can’t even reach you…

 

He then closed his eyes and recreated his headphones and held them in his hands, filled with sadness over what he was about to do.

 

Neku then opened his eyes looking down at the headphones

 

“If nothing matters anymore...Beat, Rhyme, Eri, Joshua, Mr. H…and all the things they’ve done for us…if you’re just gonna throw all of that away…then…then maybe I should too” he said darkly

 

Getting the exact result he wanted, Shiki looked up at Neku terrified

 

“Neku?” she said quietly

 

“Neku's my friend? And the others...there are other people who care too? He’s not gonna do that right? He's not going to throw everything away right?!” she thought

 

Neku then hinted at Shiki what he was going to do, hoping it would trigger a reaction

 

“I’ve set up an imprint in these headphones” he said telepathically “Since you don’t care about me anymore…then why should I care about you…right? The moment I put these on again...all the friends I made, all the things we went through, it'll all be gone. It'll be as if...I never died that day in Udagawa. It'd be as if...I never met you”

 

Shiki then felt her eyes water, at that moment the chunk of the floor she was standing on spread into a path for her to cross leading her to Neku

 

“C’mon Shiki, please…don’t let me do this” he thought sadly

 

Neku then looks at his headphones for a few seconds, and slowly raised the headphones towards his head and closed his eyes.

 

Finally, with everything syncing in, Shiki ran towards Neku determined not to lose her friend, to have him forget all of his new friends, including her causing her to run as fast as she could, reaching him in a matter of seconds.

 

"Neku don't!" Shiki roared

 

At that moment he felt someone hug him with the headphones almost on his head again. He then looked at Shiki startled

 

“Please! Please don’t go!” Shiki whimpered

 

“Shiki?” Neku said weakly

 

He then lowered his hands causing the headphones to disappear

 

“N-Neku! Please don't throw everyone away! Please don't!” Shiki yelled

 

Neku then wrapped his arms around Shiki

 

“I won’t Shiki…ever and that's a promise. It’s like what you said to me remember?” he said sweetly

 

“huh? What do you mean?” Shiki said weakly looking up at him

 

“I’m not going to abandon you” Neku said smiling

 

Shiki then lets go of Neku and smiles back

 

“Heh, thanks…I…um, I guess the energy made it a little hard for you to reach me huh?” she said feeling shy

 

“Well, I’d say more than a little” Neku said smiling with his left hand upward and right hand in his pocket again

 

They both then chuckled happy to be with each other again, and that Shiki was herself again. Neku then closed his eyes and glowed a white aura tapping into his Angel energy.

 

“C’mon, let’s get out of here” he said holding his left hand out to Shiki

 

“yeah” Shiki said smiling

 

The moment she placed her hand on his, she glowed Angel energy too and closed her eyes, causing Neku to close his eyes too. The moment they opened their eyes they saw they were back in the 104 building, but this time with Beat, Rhyme and Eri there

 

(who was now awake and fully healed thanks to Rhyme, she also healed most of Neku’s wounds, but a few scratches remained, as well as the deep scratch on his left forearm which leaked energy)

 

“Neku, Shiki!” they all shouted

 

They then ran towards them happy to see Shiki was herself again but before they were able to ask what Neku did, Shiki was filled with grief

 

“Neku” Shiki said sadly “You’re hurt!”

 

the friends caught up to them and then stood in place so Shiki could heal Neku. He then looked down at his arms and saw all the slashes she inflicted on him (even though they were less) and the part of him that was torn leaking energy.

 

“Here, let me help you” she said sweetly

 

She then generated Angel energy on her hands and placed it on Neku’s gaping wound, making him cringe. Shiki smiled as she saw the wound get smaller and smaller until it was gone.

 

After that Shiki then held Neku’s forearms and healed the rest of his body, and simultaneously fixed his clothes which were also torn from her previous attacks

 

She then opened her eyes and smiled at him

 

“You okay?” Shiki asked

 

“Yeah…thanks” Neku said smiling

 

“heh, don’t mention it” Shiki said sweetly

 

Beat and the others then all ran up to Shiki and Neku asking what happened. Shiki then explained what the demon energy did to her making them look at her in shock.

 

“Shiki, I’m so sorry” Eri said weakly

 

“Yeah, I wish your mind hadn’t had gotten that messed up” Rhyme said morosely

 

“at least Phones was there yo” Beat said smiling

 

“Yeah…he…helped me remember who I am and…that he’s my friend, that…all of you are” Shiki said smiling

 

The friends then all expressed their happiness towards Shiki and Neku and then began to walk out of the building

 

“Guys, can you…give us a sec?” Neku asked

 

“Sure” Eri said smiling

 

“What’s wrong Neku?” Shiki said curiously

 

“Nothing…I just…wanna make sure this doesn’t happen again” he said sincerely

 

“Close your eyes” he instructed

 

Shiki, trusting what he was going to do, closed her eyes and felt a warm presence on her forehead. Neku was glowing with a gold aura and was white again with his hair and clothes remaining

 

“ **Control** ” he imprinted

 

She then felt a little jolt (like a static shock) and opened her eyes

 

He then removed his hand from her and opened his eyes smiling at her as the energy dissolved.

 

“Now with that imprint, you’ll never lose yourself again, plus I removed the Demon energy from your mind” Neku said smiling

 

“whoa…you…you can really do that?” she said amazed

 

“You bet, with God energy I have no limits remember?” Neku said smiling

 

“Except the whole, use the energy too much and it begins to tear you apart and remove your personality” Shiki said sarcastically

 

“heh heh, right” Neku said scratching his head

 

 

He then had a thought pop into his head 

 

"Huh? Didn't Shiki kiss me earlier, before I entered her mind? Yeah I remember now...we were face to face and the next thing I knew, it happened. I...can't help but think it felt kind of nice. I wonder if...Shiki liked it too?" Neku thought

 

 

Shiki and Neku then chuckled and ran to their friends to catch up. Once they did, they all then walked out of the 104 building and all parted ways going back to their homes wanting to relax.


	28. Acceptance

As Neku relaxed again doing his normal routines as if he was alive again (with the exception of taking care of his kitty) he then had some snacks and watched tv in his living room and then walked down the stairs that lead to the first floor of his apartment and then walked out the door.

 

After that Neku then walked around the city just taking in its sights again and also lowered his vibe frequency so he could interact with other spirits, just like if he was alive being surrounded by people.

 

He couldn’t help but smile a little as he walked filled with content, and happiness that he was free, that he could finally do something so simple.

 

Meanwhile, as Neku relaxed, Joshua was bringing more humans to the after life again, flashing back to when he and Mr. H checked up on Neku after he beat the Reapers’ Game.

 

“ _You know, this is going to have some repercussions upstairs. But hey, at least things are back to normal…right?”_

_  
_

Joshua (in his Composer form) frowned a little

 

“I suppose the Reapers’ Game in my district of the world isn’t going to go on again for a while. It seems fitting I suppose, after all I did break a lot of the rules set up for the Game and broke the most important rule of all…killing on a massive scale, like wiping out an entire city, isn’t allowed yet that's exactly what the Game would decide on, whether I do that or not" Joshua thought

 

“At least, the Higher Ups have forgiven me now. After all, I’ve done more good than bad. I’ve protected my Proxy from Demons multiple times, helped him realize his true potential and…now…he’s….my friend. Who knows? Maybe they’ll even reconsider my proposal that dealt with Neku and his friends” Joshua thought again

 

At that moment Mr. H flew at full blast hovering down to his Death God friend

 

“Hey there. So, any update on what you told the Higher Ups?” Mr. H said laid back as usual

 

“No, nothing yet. But do you really think they’ll allow it? After all, it goes against one of the most sacred laws of Life and Death. In some ways, it holds even more importance than a spirit exposing themselves to a human” Joshua said sternly

 

Mr. H then landed next to Joshua

 

“True, but hey, you’ve been getting more on their good side lately, part of that has to do with Phones. So…maybe they will, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see huh?” Mr. H said smiling

 

Joshua then chuckled

 

“Heh, I guess you’re right…in some ways…maybe Neku was really helping me all this time” Joshua said smiling

 

Mr. H then looked at his friend a little confused

 

“Whoa there, who are you and what have you done with Joshua?” Mr. H said mimicking Neku

 

“Very funny Sanae. I suppose it  _is_  rather odd for a Death God to like being with a human soul…especially since they’re such weak little forms of energy. And yet…I guess in some ways, they’re very strong. What they lack in power, like with you and me, they make up for it with the ability to push themselves with their mind” Joshua added

 

“His friends” Joshua continued “They all…like me. I could sense how it was hard for them to be around me at first, especially since I am the one responsible for their deaths…minus Shiki of course. Then again, I could’ve made her not crack her head on those stairs and spare her life, and even though I’ve put them through so much, with the Reapers’ Game and fighting to save Neku…they were still there willing to support me” Joshua said still stunned at the fact they like him

 

“They…really…like me…they all have fought alongside me, I helped them with their training, and…Rhyme and everyone else, they were concerned when I got hurt…and Shiki protected me from Sho…

 

Joshua then looked towards Mr. H while his body was still faced away from him with his gray eyes looking at the angel wearing a little smile

 

“I don‘t know the others, as well as Neku does but…they‘ve all been there to help me, just like how you have. Maybe…they‘re not just Human Souls that are friends with Neku but…I guess I have a sense of value towards them, that they…are worth protecting…like Neku. I guess...they're my friends too”

 

Mr. H then smiled filled with joy for Joshua’s break through

 

“He’s finally come full circle. He finally gets it…heh I’m glad he met them…all of them” Mr. H thought proud of Joshua

 

The Composer then turned to Mr. H simultaneously closing his portal to the RG.

 

“Say Sanae…can you…get someone to fill in for me? There’s something I want to do” The Death God said smiling

 

Mr. H then chuckled

 

“Sure, don’t even worry about it” Mr. H said laid back

 

Joshua then became his human form and walked towards his portal that showed the HP Shibuya. Mr. H, seeing what he was going to do looked at Joshua one last time and smiled before turning his head away, and telepathically told another Death God to fill in for Joshua.

 

After that, the Angel then flew to the Higher Ups’ district to report on Joshua’s change. He then got to their lair where he bowed to them.

 

“At ease Sanae” Aiden said smiling with his, and everyone else’s hood removed

 

He then powered down to his human form and stood up and thanked Aiden

 

“I have interesting news sir. As you are aware, ever since Joshua met Neku Sakuraba, he’s come more to an understanding of what he is now. As you know, Joshua and I were once normal citizens of Shibuya, but when he became a Death God, it seemed to have made him feel detached even more from people, other than me of course. But I feel like as of recently he has also learned the worth of the energy within humans, and that he too, is still technically human. It is because of that same fact that once, that energy was released and brought to the Higher Plane, that he was thrown into a conflict of whether or not Human Souls truly have value, and whether or not they would interfere with his duties” Mr. H announced

 

“that’s very true Sanae, are you truly claiming that Yoshiya Kiryu actually values human souls? Though his past actions do lean towards this being true, such a ridiculous idea can’t come to pass. Should a Death God befriend a human soul, it could easily alter their Judgment, and in a way it already has altered his. You can’t possibly say this is a good thing” Aiden said sternly

 

“With all due respect sir, I believe it is. Although it has altered Joshua’s Judgment, which is as you know, when a Death God claims the life of a human, or their soul, to the extent that he struggled to kill his Proxy in the Angels’ Game and refused to pass his Judgment upon Neku during his trial. Yet I still believe this to be a good thing sir. Joshua has now done more good than bad, has he not?” Mr. H said happily (while still being professional)

 

“it is true Aiden, the Guardian makes a valid point” Amonae added “thanks to the Influence of Neku Sakuraba and his friends, they’ve helped the young Death God have a better understanding of the value of life, and death. Although they did alter his Judgment, he’s still able to fulfill his duties and release the energy within humans”

 

“I agree” Ryuga said also “Yoshiya has always been a powerful Death God, yet he’s also extremely hostile, sinister, and at has had tendencies to enjoy brutal deaths, where he watches humans suffer making him rather morbid from time to time. On top of that, he also clearly has some murderous tendancies, like how he would stalk Neku Sakuraba and planned to kill him.”

 

He then continued

 

“On top of that Yoshiya is determined and will do whatever means necessary to achieve his goal, causing him to be face to face with the boy he wanted to kill. To make it even more ominous, the Death God seemed a little hostile while within the flesh in the Realground” he added

 

“A good explanation” Yuki added “it’s clear that he had a sense of  amusement in killing the boy. He looked at Neku Sakuraba with intense, hostile eyes before targeting the Reaper”

 

“In some ways” Ryu added “he seemed to nearly be at the brink of thirsting for blood, to want to see Neku die…more than for the reason of using him, like it pleased Joshua‘s hostilityIf it wasn’t for his composure, Joshua could easily be the most dangerous Death God among us. If anything those little energies have helped Joshua maintain his control and not give into the thirst that the Angel of Death eventually had. They’ve helped him become…more at peace with himself”

 

Aiden then nodded in agreement

 

“Although we still have not come to a conclusion about his idea, we do see the benefits in it, and will continue to debate whether or not to follow through with his idea” Aiden announced

 

“Also” Aiden added “I analyzed your documents about Neku’s progress, very thorough, detailed, and very well organized as always Sanae. Neku Sakuraba is truly an interesting child. His mind has become extremely powerful. Heh, who would’ve thought he would one day achieve power greater than us all?”

 

He then generated an orb of light and sent it to Mr. H

 

“Could you send this to Neku for me?” Aiden asked

 

“Of course sir” Mr. H replied

 

Holding his right hand out to hold the orb, Mr. H then sprouted his Angel wings to fly away and used his mind to make a portal and flew into it teleporting himself back to the Composer district where he saw that Joshua had left.

 

The Composer had landed on the 104 building and leaped off of it gently floating down to the building. As he reached the Scramble Crossing being only a few inches from the ground, he used his imagination to sprout wings and flew around a bit trying to find someone.

 

All the while this was happening Neku was also walking around Shibuya with his Vibe frequency lowered to a normal human soul and went to Ramen Don and was about to eat his favorite bowl of Ramen when he saw a white orb fly down to him.

 

“Joshua?” Neku said quietly “Or…is this Mr. H?”

 

Neku then placed his chop sticks down on the table in front of him and crossed his arms.

 

“What’s going on?” he thought “Usually whenever a white orb touches me, it teleports me somewhere or…dissolved my flesh, like in the Cross Road. So…what’ll happen if I touch this one? What exactly was that place anyway?and I woke up in the White Room but...why? and If the Cross Road is supposed to bring spirits to the Higher Plane, then how come I was human there?”

 

A little hesitant to touch the orb at first, Neku decided to answer his question with his God energy since he has infinite knowledge with that energy. He closed his eyes and opened them making his eyes gold just barely tapping into the energy

 

“While the White Room brings humans there while they’re in a Semi-Dead state: the state of being where one has attributes of being dead, such as phasing through the people of the Realground, while in the Underground. It also acts as a bridge to The Cross Road, where they achieve a more dead-like state. Entering the Cross Road requires for one's heart to stop beating, however, it is ultimately the Composer who has absolute authority over the UG and as such, chooses whether or not to send someone to the Underground or the Crossroads.” Neku said out loud

 

He then closed his eyes and opened them again causing him to feel a jolt in his head

 

“Nnngh! That…hurts” Neku muttered squeezing his hair panting a little

 

He then tried to focus less on the pain and more on feeling better, and he then opened his eyes and smiled relieved that the pain was gone

 

“much better” Neku muttered

 

“Alright, time to see what this orb does” Neku thought still feeling a little hesitant

 

He held out his left hand to it causing the orb to float near his hand. He then cupped the orb with both hands feeling its warmth.

 

“heh heh, this is just like last time” Neku thought remembering how his journey all began with the touch of an orb

 

Sure enough, just like last time, the orb touched Neku’s hands sending a jolt making him grunt. The moment he opened his eyes, they were wide-eyed from shock, and the stinging pain he felt (Similar to how his eyes widened the first time he used the Player Pin…minus the pain aspect)

 

He then saw visions showing his feats, how he contributed to saving the Higher Plane from being conquered by demons in Clarissa’s War. He saw himself achieving Enlighten Status showing his growth, and showed him mastering other abilities.

 

And saw himself achieving God Status, as well as when he fought Kurushii and then Anthony with his own energy. All the images were flashing to him at once showing all the things he’s accomplished, including his slaying of Izawa.

 

As other images of his success swirled in the vision, he heard all the Higher Ups speak at once, with their true voices (being distorted like his voice in his Death God form)

 

“Neku Sakuraba, though you have suffered much both while alive and dead, those struggles have made you strong enabling you many abilities. Although you may not realize it, you and your friends have started a new Era in the afterlife. Even though you have also faced failures and nearly lost yourself, thanks to the bravery of you and your friends, we have learned much and are able to do things that we perceived as incapable before. Thank you Neku Sakuraba for all that you have done”

 __  
  


At the moment they all stopped talking the vision simultaneously ended causing Neku to feel an extremely sharp jolt of pain in his head, similar to the pain he’d feel after seeing visions of his death from within Joshua’s mind.

 

But this jolt was much stronger than the jolts of pain from Joshua’s presence, this one jolt was Neku getting a little taste of the Higher Ups’ presence again, but due to his God energy, he now could sense how close they are to his God form’s strength.

 

“Nnnnnnnnngh!” Neku grunted squeezing his hair.

 

His fingers then squeezed even tighter as he felt his head pounding causing him to pant out of breath. In addition to this, (similar to when Neku saw his first vision from Joshua) he felt dizzy, clenching his teeth from the pain as he tried to heal himself.

 

“F-Focus” Neku said weakly

 

He then thought about feeling better causing the pain to stop. He then opened his eyes and laid his hands on the table still exhausted from feeling such power, causing him to still pant.

 

“Man…that…was really strong, they’re almost as strong as my God form…Death…is almost as strong as me” he thought a little scared

 

With his arms resting on the table he then placed his hands on his head and tapped into his mind again.

 

“I…I want to feel better, not tired and weak” he thought

 

He then opened his eyes and let out a sigh of relief sitting back up again

 

“I’m glad it’s finally over, even the Higher Ups like me now” he thought remarking on the vision

 

He then grabbed his chopsticks and began to eat his ramen, glad that it was still warm. As he ate the ramen slurping the noodles into his mouth, he heard someone call out to him as he chewed the noodles in his mouth a little bit.

  
_  
_

“Mind if I join you?” the male voice said

  
_  
_

Neku then swallowed his noodles and looked in the direction the voice came from causing him to look to his left.

 

“J-Joshua?” Neku said startled

 

He saw what looked like Angel wings on his Composer friend. Joshua then flew to Neku hovered and then dissolved the wings gently falling into the seat next to Neku. He wore a smug smile amused by Neku’s shocked expression.

 

“H-How did you do that?!” Neku shouted

 

“Heh, well it’s pretty obvious isn’t it?” Joshua said twirling his hair causing Neku to groan and cross his arms

 

“Even as my friend, he still has to bead around the bush huh?” Neku thought annoyed

 

“Um…no” Neku said annoyed

 

“You’re a God of Death so…how is it that they can have Angel wings?” he said persistently

 

Joshua then chuckled

 

“Oh Neku, you really are oblivious sometimes hee hee. A Death God, as a form of energy, I have a very powerful imagination. So it’s because of this, I merely imagined having wings” Joshua said smiling

 

Neku then scratched his head

 

“It’s really that easy? Heh I never would’ve guessed” Neku said awkwardly

 

He then looked at Joshua curiously

 

“So uh…do those wings act like real Angel wings? You know, storing all of an Angel’s power?” Neku asked with his left hand forward

 

Joshua then generated the wings again

 

“Exactly Neku, except that they're storing my Composer energy of course. Say…did you know that Angel wings have many other properties too, in addition to healing?” Joshua said curiously

 

“Really like what?” Neku said interesting in learning more about Angels

 

Joshua then pulled off a feather from one of the Angel wings making Neku gasp

 

“It’s alright, if the feather is merely plucked out of the wing…

 

Neku then saw the wing regenerate the feather it had lost

 

“it regenerates, see? Anyways, Angel feathers have many abilities and can even be used for healing. They also, as you know, help empower the Angel by storing their power within the wings. So their feathers can also be used to expand on an Angels’ abilities” Joshua explained

 

“In fact, the time when I pretended to die shielding you from Sho’s attack, I teleported to that happy Tin Pin Shibuya I told you about. See, I was building up power so when I teleported, I could’ve ended up in the RG and monitor your progress from there in the third week. But…well, I used a little too much power and ended up going there” he added

 

“While stuck there due to using too much strength, I created an Angel feather to use to pass the time” Joshua said smiling

 

“huh? Pass the time? What would that feather do?” Neku asked

 

“hee hee, I can use an Angel feather to manipulate time, causing me to be able to recreate the events you went through for the alternate Neku to face…such as taking on all the GMs, Megumi’s snake Noise form, and other events you went through in the Reapers’ Game. Hee hee, I must admit, it was rather fun seeing him defend himself and go through the same struggles you did” Joshua said remarking on that event

 

Neku then looked at him in shock…

 

“so then…I…I could do that too? Recreate events, with an Angel feather?” Neku said amazed

 

“exactly” Joshua said with a smug smile

 

He then dissolved the Angel wings and placed the feather in his pocket

 

Neku then looked away from him hanging his head a little

 

“Damn, the…power Mr. H has…the power they all have…it’s incredible” Neku said awestruck

 

“heh, it really is rather impressive, and since the Composer Ranking is right behind them, we’re nearly as powerful as them” Joshua said amused by Neku’s amazement

 

After Joshua said that there was silence for a few seconds, like Neku was trying to process everything. But after that, Neku broke the silence with a question he had for Joshua.

 

“Joshua” Neku said weakly as he stared into the broth of his ramen “There’s something I’ve been curious about…and…I know that you like to mess with people, but please just…give me a straight answer…alright?”

 

Seeing how serious Neku was Joshua…actually took this seriously and was curious as to what Neku was going to say.

 

“Could you…tell me what happened? You know, after you saw me with Shiki, Beat and Rhyme in the RG and came back here?” he said with his head turning a little to Joshua

 

Joshua’s smile then vanished remembering how that’s when he was punished, getting restricted access to dimensions in the Higher Plane and how the Shibuya Reapers’ Game would be canceled for a while. On top of that, he was to remain in the Higher Plane at all times and never even visit the UG.

 

“it wasn’t pleasant” Joshua said weakly

 

“Huh? What do you mean?” Neku said a little nervous, knowing all too well how sinister the Higher Ups are when they’re angry

 

“My Guardian and I were on the 104 building he said that my actions would have  _repercussions upstairs_  but…at least things in the RG were normal again. All the while he said this to me, I was silent, watching over you and your friends in my true form, but I lowered my vibe so no one could detect my power” Joshua explained

 

“Mr. H was…talking to me about how even though I lost my bet, and wasn’t able to have the Shibuya that I wanted, that it was your world, and that you get to decide what to do with it.  After that, we became our orb forms and flew to our home in the Higher Plane. A few days passed in the RG's time and sometime after that, the Reapers' Game began again as you know, with Sho as your partner. Although the Higher Ups allowed me to run the Reapers' Game again, they were still a little worried about me. So Mr. H and I were summoned to the Composer district where we were approached by other Guardian Angels, Mr. H backed away from them and they all dug their energy into me wrapping the energy around my limbs and neck so I couldn’t escape” Joshua said darkly

 

Neku then gasped and looked at Joshua in shock knowing what that meant

 

“They…they were…putting you on trial…to face the Judgment of the Higher Ups...like they did with me” Neku said darkly

 

“Exactly” Joshua said grimly

 

“Mr. H and I entered the Slaughter room where we stood next to each other to face their Judgement and the Guardian Angels removed their energy from me. After he teleported there, my trial began. The Head Maestro said that I must be punished for my misdeeds. I had broken many rules for the Reapers’ Game and as a result, they allowed Mr. H to interfere with the Game to try to have Sho kill me, as you already know” Joshua explained

 

“So it is because of how I broke so many rules that even though the Reapers' Game happened again and you were forced to play again because of Coco, they were keeping a very close eye on me that time. Unfortunately, even after that game, I was deemed too unpredictable to handle running the Reapers’ Game for Shibuya. So of that, the Game was canceled after the one you did thanks to Coco and wouldn‘t run again for many years. They only allowed Expert Mode to happen since they were keeping a close eye on its events, which is why I and Mr. H were there, and I had no access to the RG, UG and had limited access to other dimensions in the Higher Plane” he said nonchalantly

 

“Mr. H was also then deemed unclean, an Angel that had gone against the Angels’ Code, where they swear to do as the Higher Ups command. but  since he did something he was forbidden to do, to teach a Reaper to make Taboo Noise, Mr. H was then given the ranking of a Fallen Angel, prohibited from going to the RG,UG, and was given restricted access to many of the Higher Planes dimensions, just like me. They also warned us that they could’ve easily killed us for creating such chaos, but chose not to do so due to it being a first offense” Joshua said darkly

 

“So…if you had done something like this again, and Mr. H had to break rules to stop you, they’d kill you guys?!” Neku said startled

 

“Yeah that’s exactly it. After all, troublesome beings need to be made an example of, to show other Death Gods and Angels what would become of them should they break so many rules like we did. It sounds harsh I know, but it's how the Higher Ups try to keep peace within this world” Joshua said smiling a little as if it didn’t bother him to say how Mr. H and him were now considered reckless at that time

 

 

“The only reason they were more lenient with Mr. H is because they  _told him_ to get involved with the Game to stop me, and the only reason why they didn’t kill me or Mr. H when they realized we broke the rules after your trial is because, since they knew that you still existed, they knew we had to keep you in check, to try to monitor you and your energy. In reality, you actually helped me a lot Neku. if you hadn’t had shown the Higher Ups how powerful you truly are, and increase in growth proving that sparing your life in the trial was a good thing, well…odds are that they would’ve executed me by now” Joshua concluded

 

“I…I helped you…and Mr. H?” Neku said stunned

 

“Mhm…I’ve thought about many things lately Neku, and I’ve thought about how your friends have all been there for me. While you were away as a demon, I would help them increase their power alongside Mr. H. I…in a way…sort of got to know them a little better…I…may not understand them but, Shiki…defended me from Sho when Anthony brought him back, and…all your friends were filled with concern when Sho stabbed me, and Beat said he saw me as his friend, and the others do too…then…to top it all off, you and Shiki…saved my life

 

Joshua then looked down smiling a little

 

“Joshua?” Neku said confused

 

“I guess all I’m trying to say is that I…I don’t see your friends as mere your Partners from the game anymore Neku, just human Souls anymore…I’ve grown fond of them too. They're, my friends too" Joshua said weakly

 

“Huh? So…he sees me finally, as…his friend and…he sees Shiki and the others as his friends too? Joshua…what happened to this kid? Heh, I guess…he’s learned that it’s okay to like the energy within humans” Neku thought happy for him

 

“hey um, Neku, your Ramen’s gotten cold” Joshua said trying to avoid going too deep into the conversation

 

Neku then looked down at the Ramen noticing it wasn’t warm with steam coming from it anymore.

 

“Oh…heh heh, I guess you’re right” Neku said smiling a little

 

He then held out is hand towards the bowel using his mind to heat it up again

 

“Heh, you’ve gotten a true mastery over your Mind Neku. I still remember when the massive creativity within you was unleashed and you made spray paint cans and music notes all fall from the sky. And just look at you now, able to create anything with your mind, recreate Pychs you used in the Reapers’ Game, and push yourself beyond your limits allowing you to increase your already, high tolerance to pain” Joshua said smiling a little bit

 

“It’s something I could sense you always had, even in the UG. No matter how much pain a Reaper or Noise would cause you, you would keep enduring the pain. I guess it’s just…interesting seeing how much you’ve grown and how much control you have with your mind now” he added proud of his Proxy

 

“well, I can’t take all the credit. You and Mr. H have helped me get to where I am now” Neku said placing his hand on his chop sticks

 

Joshua then chuckled and summoned his favorite type of ramen making it appear on the table as well as chopsticks

 

“Shio ramen? Nice choice” Neku thought as he began eating

 

Joshua then picked up his chopsticks and began eating. Soon nothing but the sounds of slurping noodles as the boys ate filled the air. It was something Mr. H loved seeing as he watched over Neku.

 

After the boys were done with their ramen they then summoned snacks, Neku had his chicken nuggets and Joshua summoned a Definitivo Chili dog

 

“Hot dogs? I didn’t know you liked them…I guess you didn’t have a lot of them in between missions in the UG” Neku said remarking on the food

 

Joshua then chuckled again

 

“True, but well…I find them to taste good so I am rather fond of the food” Joshua said once again never giving a straight answer

  
  
"Now I have a question for you Neku" Joshua said crossing his arms smiling  
  
  
"Okay what is it?" Neku asked  
  
  
"What's Gold on the Periodic Table?" Joshua said being smug  
  
"AU" Neku replied  
  
  
  
"Good, now what's the square root of three?" Joshua said chuckling  
  
  
Neku then crossed his arms and answered  
  
  
"1.732050808" Neku answered  
  
  
Joshua then chuckled  
  
  
"so you know all of that...but can't add two numbers to get 104?" Joshua said teasingly  
  
Neku then groaned  
  
  
"well it's not like you gave me time to answer it y'know. I already know that 30 + 74 = 104" Neku said with his left hand towards his head and right hand on his hip  


After they ate their snacks Neku patted his belly nice and content with the meal

  


Joshua was about to remark how he’s only seen Neku be so open like that when he’s seen him eat ramen with his friends in the RG, remembering a time when Shiki was sitting next to him and smiled seeing him pat his belly, when they both were startled by a certain voice…

 

“HEY!” the voice shouted “You’re that kid! The loser that flipped out over that little four-eyed baby who played with a stuffed animal in middle school!”

 

The moment Neku heard that, he felt extremely angry

 

“Him! Why is he here?! When did he die?!” Neku thought trying to calm down

 

A boy with brownish gray hair and baggy pants with a muscular physic walked up to Neku popping his knuckles

 

“Rrrrgh! Great, I finally get to enjoy my afterlife and HE had to die NOW?!” Neku screamed in his head

 

“Yamato” Neku snarled

 

“You still remember me huh? I guess I should be flattered considering…it’s been ten months since I saw you in school” he said darkly

 

What was first a sense of rage coming over Neku was now replaced with a feeling of shock and heartache making him gasp and stare at Yamato in shock

 

“I…I’ve…been dead for…ten months?” Neku said just barely beyond a whisper

 

Yamato then smiled at Neku’s state of shock and walked closer

 

“yeah, people in school were sad, and out of respect placed a white flower in a white vase on your desk to mourn your death. I never cared though, and now…I’m getting back at you for what you did to me” he said darkly

 

He then looked to his left to see Joshua

 

“and who’s this? He’s not a spirit so how can a human be here?” he said curiously

 

Joshua then crossed his arms feeling a little defensive

 

“I’m Yoshiya Kiryu, but call me Joshua…and you’re right I’m not a spirit, but I’m NOT human” Joshua said darkly

 

The bully then smiled

 

“Interesting, you’ll have to explain that to me once I’m done beating up this loser” Yamato said darkly

 

He then charged up dark green energy in his right hand getting ready to attack Neku. Although he would’ve noticed, Neku was in a state of shock with dozens of questions racing into his mind knowing that he’s been dead for almost a year now.

 

“What’s happened since I’ve died?! And…my parents! are they okay?! Even if we don't always get along and they drive me nuts...I left them, for that long?! Why didn’t anyone tell me this?! Did they think I’d get mad?! How long have they known?! I…I’VE BEEN DEAD FOR ALMOST A YEAR?!”

 

Yamato then was about to punch Neku when Joshua held out his hand sending a shock wave to the bully making him go flying and crashing onto the ground. People around the restaurant went away concerned about a fight breaking out. He then got up and looked at him in shock also surprising Neku.

 

He then got up and walked towards Joshua again, Joshua then got up from the seat and walked towards the bully.

 

“You wanted to know what I am right?” Joshua said darkly “Well then, allow me to show you”

 

Joshua then snapped his fingers giving off a little bit of his presence to the bully overwhelming both him and Neku with a sense of uncertainty.

 

“Who…is this freak?!” Yamato thought backing away terrified

 

Joshua then chuckled walking towards him with his hands in his pockets.

 

“This kid…there’s something….off about him…like he…he’s a loose cannon! He’s…so strong but…there’s something else…I…I gotta get away from him!” Yamato thought horrified

 

“Joshua?!” Neku thought “Why…why do I feel so…nervous?! I…gotta calm down! Damn it! I feel chills going down my spine! This guy...if he just snaps all of a sudden...am...I gonna die too?! He's already killed be before! What if he tries to shoot me again and--NO! don't think like that! I…I gotta raise my vibe frequency!”

 

Neku then quickly placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes making his vibe frequency go back to its normal full powered state. He then opened his eyes relived to no longer feel a sense of danger, like he wasn’t safe

 

Joshua then snapped his fingers sending a vision to Yamato of his true form roaring like a lion while hearing Joshua speak in the vision as it showed the more gruesome deaths he has done as a god of Death. From making people die in car crashes, to being murdered, to being ran over. All of these images were then shown to the bully.

 

“I…am a bringer of Death, a being who shares traits with the Angel of Death…I…am a God of Death and you will NOT lay a hand on my Proxy! He’s no mere boy for you to toy with!”

 __  
  


Yamato then felt his eyes widen as he backed away from the vision ending, Joshua then walked towards Yamato, making the air sting from his slightly higher then UG Vibe frequency and then teleported to him being face to face.

 

“Should you EVER come near Neku Sakuraba again…should you even give him a dirty look, or have the intent of hurting him…

 

Joshua then closed his eyes and opened them revealing his gray eyes of his true form

 

“I won’t hesitate to kill you” Joshua said darkly in his true Composer voice

 

“I…I’m sorry!” Yamato wailed backing away “I’M SORRY!”

 

“Good” Joshua said with a little smile

 

It then vanished

 

“Now get outta my face” he said sinisterly

 

He then blasted Yamato with a gust of wind making him fly away from him and Neku. Once the bully was gone Joshua placed his hands back in his pockets and chuckled. He closed his eyes and opened them regaining his purplish gray eyes and then walked back to Neku and sat next to him, noticing how Neku was looking at him in shock

 

“Why so surprised Neku? When I was dying…I…I told you how…you’re not some boy I killed in Udagawa anymore. You…have a sense of…importance to me…you’re……my friend” Joshua said weakly

 

“Joshua” Neku said hiding his face “Just cause we’re friends doesn’t mean you should run around trying to threaten whoever looks at me funny. I get that you were just looking out for me but, you gotta hold back. If you had killed him, you know what would’ve happened to you. I…I get what you were trying to do Josh, but… just don’t…do that again…I honestly thought you were going insane”

 

Joshua then looked down

 

“Sorry…I um….

 

The composer then returned to his usual snobby self, he then raised his head to look at Neku and flicked his hair

 

“I suppose you could say I was rather…hostile, wouldn’t you say Neku? Hee hee” Joshua said pulling back his hair

 

Neku then sighed

 

“I’m gonna have to get use to these changes in his attitude” Neku thought

 

He then raised his head and smiled

 

“Har har, very funny Josh” Neku said wearing a smug smile.

 

The two boys then walked around the city a bit and Neku brought up something with his Composer friend

  
  
  
"Um, listen Josh, I was hoping I could ask you something" he said weakly  
  
  
"Well what is it Neku?" Joshua said curiously  
  
  
"I've been dead for ten months? why didn't you tell me about this?" he said with his hands in his pockets  
  
  
"That's because I didn't want to tell you, I did that for your sake. Part of enjoying your Eternity, is understanding that you live here now" Joshua said weakly  
  
  
"I know that this is my home now but...there's something I wanna do Joshua...I...I want to go back to the RG. Just a little visit, to see how everyone's doing. But don't worry, I'll be sure not to talk to anyone but you this time" Neku said sternly  
  
  
Joshua stopped walking and hanged his head to think  
  
  
"You know how risky that is Neku...but at the same time you're a lot stronger now than when you first came here. so I guess it'd be okay. I'll come too just make sure nothing happens this time" Joshua added  
  
  
Neku then nodded his head sternly, understanding how risky it is for energy from humans to return to the RG  
  
  
Neku and Joshua then teleported to an alleyway so no one would be surprised to see Joshua appear out of thin air and began to walk out of it and walk around Shibuya communicating to Neku telepathically.   
  
  
the first thing Neku wanted to do was check on his family. the nervous teen glided to his house causing Joshua to follow where he flew. in order not to blow his cover Joshua then telepathically told Neku to go visit his parents and then meet him at the Scramble Crossing. he did this so Neku's parents wouldn't see him.  
  
  
  
Neku then flew towards the windows of his house to watch what his parents were doing. although they were still struggling, they were dealing with the loss of their son much better. they still deeply miss him but are also still able to enjoy each other's company.  
  
  
  
Neku smiled happy to them living their lives again. he saw his mom dusting off his Urn and would make sure to feed his cat whenever she was hungry, and would also spent time with his cat. 

"I miss you mom" Neku thought as flew to another window smiling at her as he flew away

  
he then saw his father in the living room where he was watching the news where he picked up on his father's thoughts.

  
"I should've spent more time with him. I took my own son for granted" Neku's father's eyes then watered a little

  
"Neku...my son...I'm sorry I failed you"

  
hearing his dad's thoughts made Neku's heart sink.

  
"Dad... look...I, I know as a family we were dysfunctional, that eventhough I got along with mom better than you, I would still argue with her too, and you, but... you're still my dad and...I'm sorry I bothered you so much." Neku thought sadly

  
Neku then smiled a little 

  
"But...someday, we can hopefully get along better since we'll have all eternity to be a family again. I miss you dad" He thought hoping that maybe the Higher Plane could be his family's second chance someday

  
he then looked at his urn again and saw his cat walk up to his mom and rub against her. as Neku was filled with a sense of relief and peace of mind, getting ready to leave them, he saw his mom heading to the second floor.

  
curious, he then went to her bedroom window and altered his vibe frequency to make sure she doesn't see him. as he analyzed the room he saw books on her night table that gave him a sense of dread. he couldn't help but gasp feeling a little nervous.  
  
  
  
"No...she has books on the Afterlife now?! but...The Higher Ups...they have to be aware of this right? that humans write books about this?! What if it actually has something accurate in there about the Higher Plane? Would I...would I get in trouble for her curiosity?" Neku thought as he stared at the books fearfully

  
"No" Joshua said telepathically "You've been forgiven Neku, and on top of that now you're even stronger than them, so they can't touch you. Humans are meant to wonder about the afterlife. all these books are, are just how those people view the afterlife, what they think it'll be like. they're almost like theories. you're okay Neku"  
  
"Good" Neku thought "I'm glad that's not an issue anymore"   
  
  
he then saw his mom begin reading one of the books. Neku smiled at her and then flew away  looking back once at his mom smiling at her  
  
  
  
"We'll be a family again one day, you'll see" Neku thought as he flew to Joshua.  
  
  
he then teleported to his Composer friend  
  
  
"Did it go well?" Joshua asked mentally as he walked around the city  
  
"Yeah" Neku replied mentally  
  
Joshua then told Neku to use his second sight in the RG. knowing that he's never done that before, he told Neku to tap into his mind and think about seeing the dead. the moment he did this, he saw Shibuya was surrounded by ghosts making Neku startled and gasp  
  
  
"What?! how come there's so many spirits here?" he asked mentally  
  
  
"Although Second Sight enables me to see the dead Players from the UG running around as I'm in the RG, one can expand on this ability and use it to see spirits in the RG" Joshua explained  
  
"But why would spirits be here, and not in the Higher Plane?" Neku asked telepathically  
  
  
"that's because" Joshua says answering the question "these spirits are trapped here Neku. Their attachment to someone, or something, is so strong that they never even reached the White Room, let alone the Cross Road. Some of them even live in denial, believing to be alive, and it's that very same denial that blocks them from entering the Higher Plane. They're called, Lost Souls. Souls who will never truly be happy, souls that are earthbound, never to crossover into the Afterlife"  
  
  
"On top of that" Joshua continued "these spirits tend to do what you did to your mother, to reveal themselves to humans. they do it out of wanting someone to know that they exist. that they need help."  
  
  
"it requires a lot of energy for a Spirit to make themselves visible and because of this they often times manifest as orbs or even mist and if they feed off of the energy within humans, they can materialize and show their first layer to someone, like how you did with your mother, making her feel chills go down her spine, from her energy feeling yours. Some spirits do this to harm people making them feel sick or weak, like how Anthony did that to you. All the Lost Souls want, is someone to help them" Joshua said a little sad  
  
  
Neku then hid his face  
  
  
"that's...just screwed up. they'res really nothing you can do?" Neku says out loud weakly (Now altering his vibe so no one could hear him but Joshua)

  
"Unfortunately no...this is part of my roll, as keeping balance also means making some hard decisions, such as never seeing a human's energy become its true potential. One of the reasons I wanted to destroy this city, was that Neku" Joshua explained  
  
  
"The souls were so attached to the RG that it causes this to happen. Expanding your world strengthens the mind and soul, better preparing you for the journey into the next life. but without that strength for the energy and mind, they don't have enough power to even travel past the RG. Traveling to alternate dimensions as you know requires energy, and since human souls are already weak, the travel is difficult and also exhausts them like how it did to you Neku" he added walking with his hands in his pockets

  
"So...in other words...the're hurting? that's...terrible" Neku said weakly

  
"I suppose so, but that's the way it is Neku. but there is a brightside to this, should a Lost Soul come into contact with someone who specializes in spirituality, like a priest, they can help send energy to the spirit, help them accept they're dead, and help them move on" Joshua said reassuringly  
  
  
"heh, damn that's awesome" Neku said happy for them

  
after that they returned to the HP Shibuya and walked around the city a little but were silent for a few minuets and after that Neku broke he silence asking Joshua a question  


“Hey Joshua, do you think you could do me a favor? Since well…you’re immortal you’ve had all eternity to master music so…could you teach me a few things?” he said with his hands in his pockets

  
  


“Hm? Well…I suppose so, since I still have my shift covered” Joshua said looking at Neku curiously

 

Neku and Joshua then teleported to Neku’s apartment where he taught Neku how to write music, something that completely startled Shiki as she telepathically heard his voice while she was sewing with Eri

 

“Joshua?!” Shiki thought

 

She then giggled

 

“he’s finally accepted Neku” she thought

 

After he reviewed what Neku learned, Joshua then wanted Neku to write a song. What’s funny is that there was a song already on his mind, Neku was so into the music that it took him away causing his powerful imagination to wander, making Neku write out the Melody, Bassline and Harmony for…

 

A Lullaby for You

 

Knowing how much that song means to Neku, Joshua couldn’t help but smile a little as he watched Neku write out the song

 

“How to create a Harmony” Neku thought “Melody, Chords, Bassline, harmonize”  

 

Once he was finished he then handed the music sheet to Joshua

 

“Hmm, okay good, he kept the time signature at Four-four time, meaning four beats per measure, and did very well with matching the notes to the pitches used on the piano in that song. Heh, Music Theory is very difficult and yet, he’s figured out how to write a song” Joshua thought pleased

 

“heh, good work Neku” Joshua said smiling

 

He then showed Neku how to actually find the notes on the piano (since every other time he played music, he did it the supernatural way, using his mind to play music instead of trying to learn it)

 

Shiki couldn’t help but smile as she heard him find the notes and begin playing. Eventually when the song ended Neku smiled feeling his eyes water a little. He then wiped his tears building up filled with happiness and a little emotional due to how much the song means to him.

 

After that Neku asked if Joshua would want to do something else with him after they part ways, Joshua agreed to it and he then asked Neku if he wanted Joshua to go back, he responded saying that he could leave whenever he wanted. Joshua then chuckled and spent a little more time in Neku’s house.

 

He would go to the bathroom after digesting a meal, watch Neku spray paint graffiti on poster board and watch Neku as he draws different graffiti fonts.

 

Finally, after spending what felt like many hours at Neku’s house, the Composer went back to his district and returned back to his shift, though not before thanking the fellow Death God that covered for him first


	29. Brighter Day

After thanking the Death God that covered for him, Joshua went back to bringing Human Souls to the Higher Plane thinking about what Neku wanted to do. He smiled at the thought of it since he too, has been curious about the same thing.

 

In the mean time Neku was drawing graffiti with black markers and them coloring them with other markers on a sheet of paper

 

“It’s been a while since I did this style of graffiti” Neku thought “especially since I got so good at it that I don’t use markers anymore”

 

Neku then began thinking about how he would handle spray painting graffiti in broad daylight, knowing that he could get arrested should he have done that when he was alive. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of what measures CAT has to take when spray painting in public.

 

“If it wasn’t for his art and merchandise becoming so accepted Mr. H would probably have a hard time spreading around his art. I wonder what he does to hide himself. I know he’s worn the Cat mask and hoodie to hide the figure of his body and to hide his face but still…people know that that disguise is CAT and yet they leave him be thanks to his famous status” Neku thought smiling

 

After he was done drawing graffiti with markers, he had an idea

 

“I guess I should go check on the core of the Demon Energy since I can see it now” Neku thought seriously

 

He then placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes

 

He then opened them to see that he was outside his bedroom door. He then opens it and pays his demon energy a visit.

 

As he enters the room and looks in his bedroom mirror, he’s shocked to see Damien laying on the bed taking a nap. He’s never seen him or any demon, other than Akemi and Hikaru, so relaxed as a reflection in the mirror in his room. The former Demon Lord then opened his right eye and smiled at Neku with his mouth shut

 

“Why hello there” the demon core Damien said peacefully

 

“Huh? What’s got you so calm?” Neku said defensively crossing his arms looking at the mirror

 

the core energy, as Damien, then chuckled and got off the bed with his back facing Neku. He then placed his left hand on the wall near his bedroom window, smiling as little rays of sunlight shine through the window.

 

“my demon energy, it isn't hostile? what's going on? usually, when it becomes my demon form it tries to kill me” Neku thought

 

“I’ve…been here contemplating many things” the demon said weakly

 

“With Clarissa gone, Kurushii and Anthony gone…now…I have nothing to do, and no one to serve, should the situation require me to. I’ve analyzed what you said Neku, about expanding the demon realm. I now understand how foolish it was…all of my past actions and words…everything I did…would lead to no true outcome. Yes, I attacked Shiki with the hope of killing her, but seeing how even that worked against me with her harming you, thus putting me at risk, I see now…that there’s nothing for me to do” he said sadly

 

“what?” Neku said confused

 

He then snarled and summoned energy

 

“Don’t even think for a minute that I’m buying this crap! That you’ve turned over a new leaf or something! I know you’re up to something! Even with how I told you that I could get Shiki to kill you, you STILL like screwing with me! You’ll never change!” Neku snarled

 

“And what about you?” Neku's reflection replied, “didn’t you change? And become happier, to be free? So what’s to stop me from changing?”

 

Neku then sees his reflection become his old-self wearing his headphones and then reverted back to his demon reflection. Damien then felt a tear go down his left cheek and felt it drop from his face. Damien then turned his head to Neku and smiled

 

“I deserve this tension you feel, I deserve your distrust. I know I’ve done much to deserve these things. But I assure you…that I truly feel…remorse for what I’ve done” Daimen said smiling without his teeth showing

 

“You honestly think I’m gonna trust you so easily?” Neku said crossing his arms letting his energy dissolve

 

“No, not really. I just want you to understand that I truly feel guilty…I wish that saying I’m sorry would get you to believe me. We’re apart of each other are we not? So you should be able to tell if I really am lying” the reflection said sweetly

 

He then turned all the way around facing Neku

 

“the presence of the energy...did it really change?” Neku thought

 

Neku then walked closer to the mirror to his reflection and placed his left hand on the mirror and by doing so, was placing it on Damien’s forehead and closed his eyes. He analyzed everything Damien said and analyzed the feeling of Damien’s energy…he seems, tame, calm…and almost…nice. He then opened his eyes shocked and backed away

 

“You…really changed” Neku said weakly

 

“while you were hanging out with your friends, your demon energy adjusted to your presence more. It made me see that I’ve done many worthless things Neku. All I ever did was…waste time” Damien said hanging his head with his hands in his pockets

 

“I know nothing will fix what I’ve done but…I wish…I had someone to talk to. To…be with….you out there all having a wonderful afterlife…and yet now…it’s like I have no purpose. Why should I exist Neku?” Damien said sadly

 

Neku then gasped in shock

 

“Wait, if this is my reflection...then is this the way I feel deep down? is this...my regret?” he thought feeling a little sad

 

 

Neku then hid his head beneath his bangs and hands in his pockets

 

 

"I guess...this is part of me too" he said weakly "there are things that I've done when I was the Demon Lord, that I wish I could take back"

 

 

 

“You could just have someone remove me from you and have Shiki make you a human body again and then….you wouldn’t have to worry about me anymore” reflection Damien said sadly “Anyways, you don’t want to stay cooped up in here, so just go Neku…I know you’ll never trust me and--

 

“Would you cut the crap?” Neku said sharply crossing his arms

 

“What?” Damien said looking up at him confused

 

“You're me. You really think you have nothing to live for now? Just cause your plans have all failed? You really think that you should just Fade cause no one trusts you? You’re right, I don’t trust you. Trust is something that takes time to build and yet ironically, it’s very easy to break. Feeling guilty for what you did is a good thing, it means that maybe you're feeding off of me" Neku said thoughtfully

 

"It's almost like, my...regret is doing that, like it's rubbing off on you…something I thought Demon energy couldn't do. If you really want to start over and be forgiven, then you need to forgive yourself” Neku said sternly

 

 

"I guess...I need to forgive myself too" he said hiding his face again and hands in his pockets

 

“Once you like yourself, and forgive yourself for what’s happened then, the rest will come later right? Don’t throw everything away since you feel like you have no purpose. Now’s the time to start over, and find a new purpose…and hey…we ARE apart of each other, you're literally my reflection in the mirror in my mind. So now's the time for a fresh start, for the both of us.” Neku said with his left hand outward

 

Damien then smiled at Neku

 

 

Damien then chuckled saying he understands, then Neku backed away as his reflection left the mirror in is mind to shake hands and smiled Neku and his reflection then looked into each other‘s eyes, analyzing the little windows to the soul. Neku was within Damien‘s eye and Damien was within his. Sensing a connection to Damein, one that‘s unlike anything he‘s ever felt from him before, he now knew that Damien really was sorry. He senses sorrow within Damien, the sorrow of himself.

 

“Now remember, you have to earn someone’s trust. It doesn’t just happen. So if you want to earn their trust, you can’t afford to screw around in the Higher Plane, like when I was possessed by demon energy” Neku said with a smug smile

 

Damien then smiled and then waved goodbye becoming the core again and Neku walked out of the bedroom door. He then opened his eyes.

 

“heh heh, I can’t believe how much things are looking up” Neku thought happily

 

He then walked to Shiki’s room telepathically telling her what has just now happened.

 

“What?!” Shiki shouted as he walked into her room “Neku you can’t trust him...I mean it, your inner-self!”

 

“Shiki…you didn’t see what I saw, when I saw my reflection in the mirror of my room, it was of Damien…but, not the way we're used to. The demon energy doesn't even feel the same anymore. It’s almost like the demon energy is not as vicious” Neku said hiding his face

 

“When I spoke to my reflection, he…said he...felt like there was no reason to be here” Neku said darkly

 

Shiki then looked at him in shock

 

“Your Inner-Self, He…wanted to…Fade?” Shiki said weakly

 

“Yeah, he felt like he has no purpose anymore…no reason to exist. After telling me how he feels, and then on top of that analyzing what his energy feels like…it really has changed Shiki. All this time we were hanging out together, the demon energy was merging with me becoming apart of me. Making it become less hostile” Neku added with his left hand outward

 

Becoming worried, Shiki then hanged her head as she held his hand and squeezed it a little

 

 

"But Neku, if that reflection is your inner-self, then...you don't really feel that way right?" She asked hoping he was okay

 

 

Neku then looked at her with a gentle smile

 

 

"No, I don't. So you don't need to worry Shiki. Even if I still have my regrets of when I was the Demon Lord, I know...that I'll have to live with that but...I also know that that's part of my past and that you guys don't blame me for it." he said sweetly

 

Shiki then giggled and smiled at him, making her grip more lose

 

 

"I'm glad, you had me really worried Neku." she added

 

 

"Sorry...it's just...I think the reason why my Demon reflection is like that, feeding off of my regret is 'cause I...I still sometimes have those memories come back, and then I'm reminded of what I did, of who I was...and...it hurts. I'm not sure how long it'll take, but...I know that I need to forgive myself" he said hanging his head

 

He then looks back at her and smiled

 

 

"I can only begin to imagine how much it hurts, and...I guess in a way I sort of understand it since I was consumed by Demon energy too, but it's like you said Neku, we don't blame you, we just want you to be yourself and not let that part of who you are, hurt you okay? Whenever those memories start to come back, just remember to think about who you are now." She said sweetly

 

"Yeah...thanks Shiki" he said sincerely

 

 

Shiki then giggled

 

 

"Any time." she said sweetly

 

“so…how did it merge with you anyway? I thought that I removed it from your mind. You sure you're okay?" the seamstress friend asked 

 

 

Neku then smiled at her and chuckled

 

 

"That's cause...no one's ever tried to save a Demon." he said with a warm smile, making Shiki blush

 

 

"It's all cause of you guys...my friends. Each one of you helped rebuild my mind from the Demon energy tearing it part. You removed the Demon energy from my mind, removing Clarissa's influence. She just sped up what Demon energy does naturally, possess its host. Then on top of that, I was able to break the link my Demon energy had to Demon Lord Kurushii, a link only really powerful demons have. By doing all of that, my Demon energy was no longer corruptive" he explained

 

 

Shiki then giggled, happy that her Imprints were strong enough to really help him, and that the Reapers' Game helped him defy what's expected of being possessed by demon energy.

 

 

the two friends then let go of each other's hands with Shiki cuddling Mr. Mew again and Neku scratching his neck feeling a little shy. After that, Shiki then continued

 

 

"So you really trust the core demon energy now? You sure we can trust it” Shiki said concerned

 

 

“Right now…no…but my reflection said that it's willing to change…so that right there says there’s something about the core that’s different. when my inner-self spoke to me, it sounded almost lonely...like all it wanted was a second chance” Neku said smiling with his left hand upward and right hand in his pocket

 

 

Shiki then smiled

 

“You know, that demon reflection in your head, kinda sounds like the way you use to be Neku. You were comfortable pushing people away, and yet…all you really wanted was someone you could trust” she said sweetly

 

Neku then scratched his head

 

“Yeah…heh heh…I guess that’s one way of putting it” he said a little embarrassed

 

Shiki then giggled

 

“So what do want to do Neku? Is there anything else you need?” she said smiling

 

Neku then smiled at her with his right hand in his pocket again and left hand upward.

 

“Well…I kind of want to go to alternate realities again and was hoping you wanted to come too” he said smiling

 

Shiki then chuckled

 

“Of course Neku, that sounds awesome” she said smiling

 

“Cool, let’s get the others to see if they wanna go too” Neku added

 

“Huh? But Neku only two people can go to alternate dimensions right?” Shiki said confused

 

“Well yeah, but I can do anything with my God powers remember?” Neku said with his hand on his hip

 

“yeah” Shiki said getting the idea

 

Neku and Shiki then gathered their friends explaining what Neku could do with his God energy and then they all went to the Composer District to see Joshua in his human form.

 

“ready to go?” Joshua said smiling

 

“Almost, just one question Joshua” Neku said

 

“Oh Neku, you really are a thoughtful person. What could you possibly want to know now?” Joshua said with his hands in back pockets wearing a smug smile

 

Neku then crossed his arms

 

“Geez if I didn’t know any better I’d say that I annoy you” Neku said annoyed

 

“Anyways, I was just gonna ask why is it that the Composer District looks different from when I first came here? It wasn’t like this before. I know it had a ton of clouds like I was at a really high altitude, and a glass floor, so why’d it change?” Neku asked

 

“Well” Joshua said with his left hand towards his head and right hand in his pocket “Since the afterlife can be altered through your imagination, it merely changed to the way you and your friends saw it because some Angels and Death Gods wanted to see it like this that’s all”

 

“That’s all” Neku thought quoting Joshua “Yeah that’s simple. Having the power to alter anything with your imagination, that’s not hard to comprehend at all”

 

“So you all ready to go?” Joshua asked

 

“yeah” everyone replied

 

“there’s just one thing I gotta do” Neku added

 

He got into his concentrating pose and generated God energy around him and his friends. It then dissolved after a few seconds making an invisible barrier around them.

 

“Now we’ll all be able to travel together” Neku said smiling

 

“Damn, that’s crazy Phones. You really CAN do anythin’ you want with that energy yo!” Beat shouted

 

“yeah pretty much” Neku said with his hand on his hip

 

They all smiled and laughed, except Joshua who merely chuckled

 

After that Neku closed his eyes telling everyone to get ready, they then teleported to an alternate reality. Neku and friends then opened their eyes and saw they were in an alternate Shibuya.

 

In this version, Neku knew about Def March instead of Shiki and he loved going to shows. This Neku also wore the same clothes the real one does except for the indigo part being red along with matching headphones and wearing different clothes when he goes to see bands.

 

As the real Neku and friends all walked towards the alternate Neku, (including Joshua since it cloaks him from other people) they heard him talking about something with Shiki, who was actually in her RG form..the real Shiki.

 

“So, you ready to go see that Show I told you about?” Neku said excitedly

 

“Yeah, I’ve never seen a band live before!” Shiki said also happy

 

“it’s gonna be so rad” Neku added

 

“totally…hey Neku…you haven’t been tagging everything you see again on that skate board your mom got you, have you?” Shiki added

 

In this reality Neku still loves graffiti, but also takes his dislike for rules to the extreme. He skateboards around Tokyo spray painting his Graffiti whenever he can, and unlike the real Neku, he gets into a lot of trouble in school getting almost expelled for breaking rules.

 

“well…I have, but not recently” Neku added

 

The real Neku noticed his alternate self still wore headphones

 

“hey you wanna go to a store? I got clothes for the Show that I want to try out” Neku said smiling

 

“Sure” Shiki replied

 

Neku and Shiki then went to 104 and Neku went into one of the rooms to change his clothes. He then got out and showed Shiki his clothes for the event.

 

Neku wore the Japanese style of Punk clothes. He had a black collar with spikes on, black skinny jeans with holes on them, shoes that were white at the tip and black everywhere else, a red and black tank top and red and black stripped wristbands that go up to his upper arm. He also had a little chain on the left his pants with a red cat face on it as a reference to his love for CAT.

 

“Whoa you look awesome Neku” Shiki added

 

“thanks I love punk clothes. Anarchy all the way man!” Neku said smiling

 

“you’re gonna love Twisted Tour Shiki. It’s an event that starts in America and then spreads out to the eastern countries in a few months. Usually towards the end of June the bands start to head to the East. And this time Def March is gonna be there!” Neku said excited

 

“You gonna where the clothes I recommended?” Neku added

 

“Yeah, I could get crushed by wearing the wrong footware since people step on your toes and stuff…and elbow you…and push you”

 

“Ah Mosh Pits…they’re so cool you’ll love it Shiki. The intensity of the Mosh Pit really depends on the genera of Rock playing” Neku said with his arms crossed

 

They then left the store with Shiki remarking on how many shows Neku had seen. Curious, the real Neku and friends decided to stay in this dimension to see what happens next, even though it’s almost night time.

 

Remembering their plan, Shiki slept at Neku’s house and they all woke up around 5:30 am. Neku’s dad then got them all ready, had breakfast and then headed out.

 

“You guys brought your Yen with you?” he asked

 

“Yup” Shiki replied

 

“I did too dad” Neku added

 

They then all got in the car and drove for many miles to where Twisted Tour was being held, like the real Neku, this alternate Neku loves music but unlike the real Neku who listens to hiphop, rock, J-pop, and techno (with it all being Independent meaning NOT mainstream due to him hating trends) this Neku is a rock lover. He loves alternative rock, punk, metal, screamo, Emo music and electronica.

 

Time passed and the ghosts all followed the alternate Neku and Shiki, they then stopped at a gas station for snacks and to use the bathroom at 8:00 am and then kept going hoping to reach the area on time.

 

Eventually Neku’s dad reached Shinjuku-Ku where Twisted Tour was being held at at 10:30 am and showed the security officer his ticket which had private parking, allowing Neku and Shiki to be almost first inline at the Gate that leads to where all the amp theaters the bands play at.

 

Due to how packed Twisted Tour is, they had to wait until 12:45 pm

 

Everyone wailed as the security officers opened the gate and everyone walked inside, they then had to get themselves checked to see if they brought food or drinks with them and had to throw them away since Twisted Tour makes money off of all the band merchandise and food and drinks people buy.

 

Unlike a lot of concerts, Twisted Tour DOES allow recordings of the bands and photos to be made.

 

As Neku and Shiki walked around the Venue they saw a huge poster that displayed the times the bands would play, and what amphitheater they would play at as well as whether or not it was an outside amphitheater. A rush of excitement hit Neku and Shiki as they could already hear some bands in the distance playing songs as they read the poster.

 

“Sweet, Def March comes on at 2:45!” Neku roared

 

“this is gonna be awesome!” Shiki yelled

 

“yeah, let’s get some drinks first” Neku’s dad insisted

 

Being a Twisted Tour veteran, going to this with Neku at least seven times he knows that Hydration is crucial to get the best experience out of this event since you have to walk to every amphitheater and the event lasts nearly all day sometimes ending at 1:00am

 

“Good idea dad” Neku shouted

 

Shiki, Neku, and his dad all had water which was free and all had hotdogs, five Yen per person.

 

They saw some bands to pass the time and Neku and Shiki moshed pushing and shoving everyone around them to an alternative rock band.

 

Luckily Neku had trained Shiki for this event showing her how to mosh, and grab a person’s shirt as soon as you’re sent flying so you don’t get crushed by the mosh pit.

 

During the song the singer of the band they saw jumped into the crowd and the lead guitarist took over singing the lead vocals. Everyone in the crowd all held out their hands pushing the singer back to the stage, while they all carried him.

 

As they pushed him, the singer got close to Neku with a security guard mouthing “Get ready” to him Neku then held out his hands also pushing the singer, the security guard caught him and placed him back on stage with the song ending.

The crowd then roared filled with excitement and the band then played their next three songs. After that they left the stage and another band then got on stage and began to play. Neku and Shiki then got out of the pit and walked around a little.

 

“hey dad, get any good footage?” Neku asked

 

“heh, yeah. I saw you and Shiki in the front head banging” Neku’s dad replied

 

“So how’d it go Shiki?” he asked

 

“What?!” Shiki said feeling her ears ring

 

Neku and his dad then laughed

 

“I SAID HOW’D IT GO?!” he yelled

 

“I can’t hear you!” Shiki yelled

 

They then got further away from the amphitheater and then repeated the question

 

“it was awesome Mr. Sakuraba! Have you been in a mosh pit before?” she asked

 

“Nah, I’m too old for that stuff. But when I was Neku’s age I went to shows and had a band in High School” he added

 

“that’s sooo cool!” Shiki exclaimed

 

Hours passed and Neku and Shiki ate some more hotdogs and went into an indoor ampitheater to sit down and eat their food.

 

“You likin’ this so far?” Neku asked Shiki

 

“yeah this is awesome, I can’t believe they do this every year in the Summer” Shiki exclaimed

 

“yeah it’s so cool, you get to really know bands here cause they’re NOT mainstream or popular and actually give a rat’s ass about their music, making them really down to earth. It’s how I got to know Def March so well” Neku said smiling

 

“Man that’s amazing…you do this every year?” Shiki asked munching on her hot dog

 

“Yup…it’s so cool being this close to the music, and to the bands you love to listen to. On top of that, if you go see that band enough, you’ll end up getting to them” Neku said happily

 

“Whoa…seriously? That’s insane Neku! How many kids can say, I personally know Def March?” Shiki roared

 

“I know right?” Neku said before drinking his water

 

After resting and recovering their stamina in the indoor amphitheater, Neku, Shiki and Neku’s dad all walked around the venue checking the time

 

“Dad what time is it?” Neku said urgently

 

“it’s right now, 1:58” he answered

 

“Aw snap! Def March is gonna play at 2:30! It’s so close” Neku said excided

 

“well then let’s hurry and catch the bands before them so we don’t miss them!” Shiki roared

 

“yeah!” Neku yelled

 

They then ran to the amphitheater having to hold hands and hold Neku’s dad’s hand so they form a chain while moving in the Venue. It’s so crowded that it’s easy to lose track of each other in the process of looking for a person’s favorite band.

 

After they got through the crowd, Neku and Shiki ran to the outside amphitheater that Def March was playing at, and got right up to the gate that separates the crowd from the band. Neku then smiled seeing that right next to him was a huge bass amp that would be used to blast the sound of the Bass.

 

As they eagerly waited, the sound tech of one of the bands greeted Neku and Shiki, who explained that this was Shiki’s first time at Twisted Tour. He smiles seeing that she’s having a lot of fun and remarked on how hot it was getting.

 

“yeah it feels like it’s almost one hundred degrees” Shiki said covered in sweat

 

“Don’t worry, on hot days like this we tend to throw water bottles at people to help them cool off” the sound tech added

 

He then told them he hope they enjoy the performance and quickly went back to checking the equipment on stage. He looked at the security guard and gave him a thumbs up and the band playing before Def March appeared.

 

Unlike the alternative rockband they saw before this was a punk band, with its fast paced music, this genera gets moshpits to go crazy though not as much as metal bands.

 

Due to the not as thrashy sound Punk has compared to metal, this pit was really just everyone jumping up and down to the song and sang along with the singer.

 

Then just as their sound tech had said, the singer then addressed the audience

 

“How’s it hangin’ Tokyooooo?!” he screamed causing the crowd to roar at him

 

“I wanna see just how insane Japan gets with this next song…but before that, we’re gonna help you out” explained

 

He then reached for a bin on stage and threw water bottles at people causing Neku to get one. The guitarist then did the riff that lead to the verse of the song and the singer began to sing causing the crowd to begin to mosh.

 

they then played four more songs with their set list coming to a close.

 

After they were done one more band went before Def March, another Screamo Band called Kill Me Slowly, one of Neku’s favorite bands. The mosh pit was intense everyone flailing their arms at each other.

 

Then as the song intensified at the guitar solo, the Moshpit became a circle pit (where the crowd forms a circle and people take turns moshing in the circle) once the song stopped Shiki and Neku took turns drinking water and then moshed to the rest of their songs getting bumped and elbowed in the pit.

 

Once they were done the moment Neku and Shiki were waiting for finally happened.

 

“Aw snap it’s him! Yo 777 it’s me!” Neku yelled

 

He then turned to Neku and smiled

 

“Hey kiddo, give me a sec, I’m settin’ up my mic” he said all laid back as usual

 

He then gets his mic set up and goes behind stage talking to his bandmates then after that BJ, Tenho and 777 (with a lead guitar strapped on to him) all walked on stage causing the crowd to roar. 777 then grabbed the mic smiling at Neku a little and then looked back at the crowd

 

“WHAT’S UP TWISTED TOUR?!” he yelled

 

The crowd then got more riled up screaming along with Neku who roared

 

“HELLS YEAAAAAH!”

 

Unlike the Def March the real Neku knew, this version was still indie but had gained international status leaving where the band was formed, Shibuya.

 

“Man…it’s been forever since we’ve been in Tokyo again…so I’ll ya what, to celebrate this, how about we start this with the single from our newest album?” 777 said smiling

 

Everyone then got ecstatic. They then began to play their new single from their newest album. Being a fan of metal, Neku began to mosh and headbang while the intense music blared at his face through a giant speaker.

 

As the song continued Tenho walked towards the crowd and stood in it getting people to hold him up by his feet. Then as the crowd sand along 777 told his band mates to get quieter.

 

“Now, I wanna see who knows this song by heart. Let me hear you Twisted Tour!” he shouted

 

At that moment thousands of people all sang the lyrics back to him including Shiki, who thanks to Neku knew the song they were playing since he introduced them to her.

 

He then walked to the edge of the stage standing on the gate separating him from the crowd. The security guards immediately grabbed each of 777’s legs and held on to them to help him not fall, even Neku and Shiki joined in helping support the singer.

 

People screamed and held their hands out to him causing 777 to reach out to some of the people in the crowd. He then stepped back with his left foot and then with his right safely getting back on stage

 

Neku of course sang the song word for word making 777 smile at him. After they sang a certain part, 777 sang the rest causing the music to get loud again. After that they played three more songs with their last one being the most thrashy, being almost like death metal.

 

They played the song and everyone moshed but once they got to the bridge, the band’s singer had an idea. For such a song 777 had a little idea, for the first time ever, Shiki would be in a Wall of Death.

 

“Everyone split up!” he instructed

 

“Aw this is gonna be intense!” Neku thought excided

 

Shiki noticed how the crowd she and Neku were in was now the right half of the crowd and everyone else was the left. The Mosh Pit was split

 

“Shiki” Neku said quietly “remember what I told you, GET UP if someone knocks you back”

 

“Is this the Wall of Death?” Shiki asked

 

“yeah, get ready” Neku said smiling

 

“Alright Twisted Tour ‘13 I wanna see you go freaking insane! Roar like a freaking beast! On the count of four”

 

“1, 2, 3,4!”

 

After 777 said that, they then went to the intense bridge causing everyone to roar and charge into each other, pushing and shoving into each other causing Neku and Shiki to get bruises all over them as they were elbowed, kicked and bumped into.

 

After the pit became a crowd once more hey all moshed again with the crowd pushing the two small teens against the fence the blocked them from the stage. Then finally their final song was over, 777 thanked everyone and said that he and everyone else would be at their tent with their band merch to hangout and sign stuff.

 

As they left the stage the crowd chanted for an encore, being the down to earth, crowd pleasers they are, Def March returned for one more song, giving them a special treat: A song from one of their albums currently in progress for their EP…

 

(a sort of demo CD that comes out before the album often times having early versions of songs that will be further polished and placed on the actual album. Although that’s not always the case)

 

As they played the song, it got hotter and hotter almost 100 degrees making 777 throw water bottles at people while he drank some during the current guitar solo.

 

Luckily for both the band and crowd, as they played their bonus song and the crowd just jumped and moshed while trying to sing along to the unknown song, clouds came and covered the sky cooling everyone down with cold rain.

 

After the bonus song the crowd screamed and cheered and Tenho threw his guitar pick at the crowd. The crowd then dispersed after Def March left and Neku and Shiki drank the water bottles 777 threw at them. As they walked to Neku’s dad he smiled giving Neku a thumb’s up

 

“I got it Neku” he said smiling

 

“sweet” Neku said panting out of breath

 

“C’mon, let’s get something to eat” his dad said seeing how tired the teens were

 

They then had food with Neku having a hamburger, Shiki having icecream, and Neku’s dad having a hotdog. Luckily for them they saved hundreds of Yen for this event knowing that they would need a lot left over for shirts and stuff from bands.

 

After they ate their foods and had their drinks Neku, his dad and Shiki all went to Def March’s merch tent where Shiki met their sound tech and band merch. Neku explained that this was Shiki’s first time at Twisted Tour causing him to ask how she liked it. She responded saying she’s had a blast.

 

Then Neku and his friend and his dad all hanged out with 777

 

“hey Neku! How’s it been man? You still doin’ graffiti?” the singer asked

 

“heh, you know it” Neku replied

 

Neku then introduced him to Shiki

 

“So, did ya like the show we did?” he asked

 

“You kidding? You guys are awesome and so much fun!” Shiki said smiling

 

“nice, that’s rad” he said smiling

 

Tenho was napping in the bands’ van and BJ was there with 777. They then took pictures of each other and bought Def March t-shirts.

 

After that they saw a few more bands and went home. Time had gone by so fast that it was already 12:45 pm by the time they all left. Exhausted from the walking and moshing, Shiki was in a deep sleep on the drive home causing Neku to sit in the front with his dad so Shiki could use he back seat as a sort of bed to sleep on (though she still wore her seat belt)

 

The real Neku and friends then beat them to their destination, Shibuya. The sun rised and Neku and his friends managed to track down the graffiti the alternate Punk Neku made

 

They saw something written in kanji with the letters being a fiery color

 

“Life is my jail cell” Neku read outloud

 

“heh, makes sense I guess. He seems to take his hate for rules way further than I ever would. I’m surprised this kid hasn’t gone to juvy” Neku chuckled

 

“You know, that twisted tour thing looked really cool” Eri said smiling

 

“yeah, I wonder if they do that in Shibuya” Neku said also smiling

 

the friends then all smiled and laughed adding that they think it'd be cool if they got to see more shows together like this alternate Neku too. After that, Neku told his other friends about his conversation with his core demon energy as Damien in his mind and how it has changed.


	30. Inferior

As Neku and his friends entered the other Shibuya they couldn’t help but wonder if they really went anywhere at all. Nothing changed, everything looked exactly the same as the other Shibuya with that Rock loving Neku other than it being the UG. Taking in the scenery Joshua thought it was a good time to express what he thinks has triggered the change in Neku's Demon energy.

 

The Shibuya teens all walked around the city with Joshua next to Neku

 

“Neku…there’s something important that I think you should know” Joshua said walking with his hands in his front pockets

 

Neku then stopped walking and turned to Joshua causing his friends to do the same

 

“Alright, what’s up?” Neku asked

 

“Well…I was analyzing the presence of your demon energy and you were right… the energy feels less hostile and more tamed, and since the essence of it has been trapped inside of you now for a while, being in your presence so to speak, it’s starting to affect the energy core, making it more like a spirit, more….like you Neku” Joshua said with a smug smile

 

“More…like me?” Neku said shocked

 

Joshua then chuckled

 

“Of course, after all you ARE Damien, that's just another name you went by back then, the former Demon Lord. but at the same time, for a while at least…it was your violent, more murderous side. the side that nearly killed us. but the energy feels very different now it's really starting to change. All the demon energy needs now is another chance, like you.” Joshua added

 

Shiki and the others then smiled at each other and then looked back at Neku

 

“He’s right” Shiki added “I guess we really don’t need to worry about your demon energy anymore”

 

“yeah...I can’t believe how much has changed” Rhyme said smiling

 

“Tell me ‘bout it yo. Neku went from went from bein’ dat Demon Freak that was hurtin' us, to it now not controlling him no more yo”

 

“I know right? This is so cool, I’m glad Neku’s demon form is…okay now” Eri added

 

They were all filled with a sense of happiness for both Neku but as they rejoiced, Neku saw something from the corner of his eye something that made him curious. It was him and Neku walking around Shibuya. In this alternate version of the UG, Shiki still felt inferior to Eri, but instead of feeling depressed about it, it built into anger and hate towards Eri.

 

This alternate Shibuya also had its alternate Neku too. In this reality, Neku was relatively the same except he went exceedingly high on the ESP Ranking system achieving a status even beyond Joshua.

 

As Neku and Shiki walked together around Shibuya as he explained something he knew, she and he were talking about Mr. H.

 

"So, did I ever tell you that Mr. H was CAT?" Alternate Neku said with a little smile

 

"No WAY?! Really?" Alternate Shiki said stunned

 

"Yeah" he replied

 

Beat, Eri, and Rhyme then looked in shock

 

"Oh yeah! I 'member dat yo! Neku told me that in the UG" Beat said to Eri

 

“Mr. H…is CAT?” Rhyme thought

 

Their discussion then continued

 

"You know how when we fought the Noise together that we grew stronger?" Alternate Neku asked

 

"I do" This other Shiki replied

 

"Well--

 

Neku then lets out an evil smile and snaps his fingers becoming Damien

 

"I've gone beyond Joshua and I've achieved Demon status" he said slyly

 

"WHAT?! But Mr. H said that that Ranking is dangerous Neku! How did you even become one?" Shiki said urgently

 

Other Neku then chuckled

 

"By killing Joshua of course" he replied

 

This made the real Neku and friends look in shock

 

"I couldn't stand him, I got fed up with him, so I absorbed his power and became the Composer, then I ascended even higher and became a Demon" Damien said with an evil smile

 

"If you want, I can give you this power too, I know how you feel about Eri" the Demonic Neku teased

 

"Eri?" Shiki said gritting her teeth

 

"I can't stand her! She always acted like she was better than me, prettier than me, no matter what I did, it was never good enough!" Shiki roared

 

hearing such a thing made Eri's eyes water

 

 

"Shiki" she said hurt

 

"Don't you want to get back at her? for all the pain she caused you?" Damien said pushing her buttons

 

"OF COURSE I DO! I HATE HER!" she roared

 

Damien then chuckled and held out his hand to Shiki, she then gives him her left hand and he electrocutes her with Demon energy, making her a Demon too. She then chuckled at her new found power and snapped her fingers, making her clothes change. She now wore a blood red long sleeve shirt with a V-neck split, and a black skirt resting above her knees. She also wore dark gray combat boots. The Alternate Shiki then smiled and thanked Neku for making her strong and then began to head to a certain part of Shibuya. As they walked away the Neku remarked on what he had seen

 

“was I really like this?” the real Neku said weakly

 

Desperate to know what they're going to do, Tthe real Neku and friends followed the demon versions of Neku and Shiki and saw that they were at the Hachiko Statue and saw someone else there too.

 

"Me?!" Eri said shocked "I-I'm dead in this Shibuya too? This has to be the UG...right?"

 

The Demon versions of Neku and Shiki then approached her with Shiki yelling at her former friend telling her how much she hates her, making the real Eri's eyes water.

 

"YOU INSULTED ME! YOU SAID I WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE A DESIGNER! YOU ACTED AS IF I COULD NEVER DO WHAT I'VE ALWAYS WANTED! YOU NEVER LIKED ME!" Demon Shiki roared

 

"NO!" The alternate Eri yelled "That's not true! I never meant to hurt you Shiki! I SWEAR! I'm SO SORRY! I never meant to make you feel so--

 

"ENOUGH!" Demon Shiki roared choaking Eri

 

at that moment a blast of white energy shot demon Shiki away from her former friend causing Damien to catch demon Shiki and gently place her on the ground

 

 

The alternate Damien and Mr. H then looked at each other filled with intensity and then become bolts of black demon energy and white angel energy slamming into each other 12 times before returning to their nomral forms

 

The Alternate Damien then squeezed Mr. H’s neck making him wheeze causing Neku to flashback to him doing that when he was the Demon Lord choking Mr. H in the false invasion, making him look at them in shock

 

“Don’t….don’t kill him” Neku thought afraid

 

“You can’t kill me Sanae” the alternate Demon said darkly

 

He was then stabbed Mr. H's stomach with his left hand and was about to dig his claws deeper into the alternate Mr. H unaware that a clone of him stood a few feet behind Damien making Neku gasp

 

The clone then generated Angel wings and flew to Damien charging up energy in his right hand. Mr. H then flashed back to when he first met Neku

 

_“where am I?” the alternate Neku said_

_He then sees Mr. H walk to him_

_“Hey there kid, this is Shibuya, you new around here?” Mr. H asked_

_“yeah…I’m not sure where to go…or what to do. Who are you?” Neku asked_

_“I’m Sanae Hanekoma, but just call me Mr. H” the angel replied_

_“heh, alright then…Mr. H. I’m Neku Sakuraba” he replied_

“he was…so innocent back then” Mr. H thought sadly “But I…couldn’t protect him. He grew stronger in the Reapers' Game but then that strengthened imagination led to insanity, making him what he is now”

 

As the real Mr. H saw his clone get closer, he then teleported away (unaware that he was standing next to Neku) clone Mr. H then stabbed the alternate Damien making him scream as he impaled him through the back and stomach. He then sent Mr. H flying with a dome of demon energy exploding right in front of him making him roll on the ground four times before recovering dissolving into orbs. Mr. H made another clone killed Demon Shiki by stabbing her in the chest

 

"Shiki...I'm sorry" Mr. H thought filled with sadness

 

Damien then went to his Virtuoso form and the real Mr. H went to his true form

 

Neku then looked at the alternate Mr. H in shock

 

“Why…why are you willing to kill me?” Neku said sadly wishing the alternate version could answer

 

“It’s over Neku…I’ll end your suffering” Mr. H said darkly

 

Damien then chuckled

 

“I’m not Neku anymore” he said smiling

 

They then flew at each other becoming beams of black and white energy zigzagging in the sky as they clashed with other.

 

“I was merely someone you left behind! In the end you never cared about me!” Damien screamed

 

“that’s not true! I tried all that I could to save you, but the energy consumed you! There was nothing I could do Neku, and now you’re on a path of destruction trying to kill all who stand in your way! As your Imagination grew, it became out of control! I warned you not to go past the Angel ranking, that the one beyond that is too dangerous!  You even killed Joshua! YOU KILLED MY FRIEND!” Mr. H said back

 

Hearing this then made Joshua look in shock for a few seconds.

 

"In this reality...Neku killed me? It's ironic." he thought a little stunned

 

They then reverted to their true forms and flew towards each other creating a sonic boom as they both punched each other in the face.

 

Both of them then crashed onto the ground rolling again and recovering from their fall. they then reverted to their powered down forms and charged energy.

 

Mr. H charged energy in his right hand, and Damien charged at his left hand.

 

Mr. H and Damien merely looked at each other with their energies surging.

 

The two former friends then charged at each other causing Mr. H to be filled with grief

 

“What’re they gonna do?!” Neku said nervous

 

Shiki then walked up to Neku and held his hand

 

“C’mon Neku…we should go” she said weakly

 

“But…this is…just like that…invasion I planned, remember? I fought Mr. H and a nearly killed him! I…I need to know what happens Shiki, this is an alternate reality where I achieved Demon Rank in the UG so…I…need that closure. Please, I need to see this…just a little more” he said weakly

 

Seeing how important this was to him Shiki hanged her head

 

“Okay. Just remember this isn’t really happening Neku, that you never had to fight Mr. H to the death like this. This was prevented from happening in the invasion” Shiki said reminding him

 

“yeah…thanks” Neku said looking down

 

He then looked up and gasped filled with dread seeing them get closer and felt chills as he heard what Mr. H said

 

“Good bye…Neku….Sakuraba. Please….forgive me”

 

“No! What’s he--

 

“I can't let this go any further. He's strong enough to ascend to my realm now. To protect the Higher Plane, and protect all the spirits there…I have to kill him” Neku heard Mr. H think

 

As the two beings charged towards each other Mr. H couldn’t help but flash back to when Neku's Angel energy started to ascend to the next rank and become demon energy

 

_He saw Neku screaming in pain as the demon was in its smoke form smothering him, causing Neku to curl into a ball filled with agony._

_Mr. H ran to Neku as fast as he could firing Angel energy  to push back the smoke surrounding Neku and leaped into the air summoning his angel wings flying to  his wounded friend_

_“Neku! Hold on!” Mr. H yelled_

_As he flew to Neku he sees him start to grow demon skin_

 

“You know…Neku…if I had just gotten their a few seconds sooner…this all…could’ve been in reverse” he thought sadly “Maybe you, would be the one killing me”

 

The energies then clashed breaking the sound barrier again sending pieces of glass everywhere. Being the powerful Guardian he is, Mr. H forced his energy through Damien’s and stabbed him in the chest, making him wheeze.

 

“Just…a little deeper” Mr. H thought

 

He then pushed his hand in deeper into Damien and felt his hand sting.

 

“Just a little more” Mr. H thought as he felt his eyes water

 

He then pulled his hand out of Damien creating a gaping hole with black demon energy escaping him, making Neku look in shock

 

Damien then fell backwards as his eyes slowly closed hearing one last thing from Mr. H

 

“You were never…just a mere kid to me…you were, my friend”

 

Damien then felt a tear go down his face filled with grief and dissolved into orbs. Mr. H then hanged his head as more tears fell from his face.

 

“Now…you’re free Neku” Mr. H said filled with grief

 

He then became a ball of light and flew away, leaving the scene unaware of Neku and his friends.

 

Neku then looked down filled with sorrow

 

“Was I really…that out of control?” he said sadly

 

“Yeah…you really were” Shiki said weakly

 

Neku then hanged his head and hid his hands in his pockets.

 

“Neku…remember that this isn’t real. It’s just an alternate reality” Eri said concerned

 

“I…I know but when I was gone, when I was out of control…I…almost killed Mr. H. so since this is an alternate reality, it just showed him...killing me. I…almost did this” Neku said hurt

 

“No….that wasn’t you remember? That was when your demon energy controlled you. I’m sorry that…this became real” Eri said sadly

 

“Yeah…me too. I wish…I never did this. I...I see now how murderous I was. I know that that’s what I did when I was lost control. I see why all of you are…still concerned about my demon energy, after all, I nearly killed all of you when you fought to save me” Neku said sadly

 

Being the kind-hearted girl she’s always been Rhyme tried to lighten the mood

 

“But that’s not you anymore Neku, Joshua said that thanks to the demon energy being apart of you, it's become less hostile, you’re finally able to accept it” Rhyme said happily

 

“If that‘s true then…what’s stopping me from going back? What’s stopping me, from wanting to hurt people again?” Neku said looking down

 

Neku then felt someone tap his back causing him to turn around smiling at who tapped him.

 

“Neku, you haven't figured that out? Remember what you said? You need to forgive yourself” Shiki said sweetly

 

“And I'm here for you too" Eri added

 

Neku then looked at his friends shocked surprised that they still want to help him knowing how dangerous the energy is

 

“you really mean that?” he said weakly filled with disbelief

 

“Of course! It's apart of you after all. so in a way, the demon energy needs you too” Eri said smiling

 

“Yeah man, quitcha bitchin’ yo. You ain’t that demon freak that tried to kill me anymore. I know you wouldn't hurt me man" Beat said weakly

 

Neku then felt his irises tremble.

 

"I...even, after all, I've done?" he said weakly

 

Neku's friends then smiled at him

 

“Well, yeah. Joshua's told us how it really has changed. I guess all your demon energy really needed was, some time to feel your presence. so even if you technically are a demon, we trust you” Shiki said sympathetically

 

“Thanks” Neku said weakly

 

“Are you sure you’re okay Neku?” Shiki asked

 

“yeah I am” he said looking towards her

 

“Good I’m glad” Rhyme said smiling

 

 

"I'm not sure how long it'll take but...I get it, I need to forgive myself" Neku said sweetly

 

 

Shiki then smiled at him

 

 

"That's okay Neku, take as much time as you need. Just remember that's part of your past ok?" she said sweetly

 

 

"Yeah" Neku said with a smug smile with his right hand on his waste

 

 

“so…do you sill want to go to other realities?” Rhyme asked a little worried

 

 

Neku then chuckled with his right hand in his pocket and left hand upward

 

 

“Definitely, I feel fine. Thanks to how limitless my God energy is, I haven’t felt any fatigue yet. I guess it’s so strong that this doesn’t really affect the energy” Neku said smiling

 

 

“heh heh, that’s good to hear Neku, we were all wondering about that” Rhyme said happily

 

Joshua then chuckled with his hands in his pockets

 

“it must feel nice being so limitless, having the power of a God, eh Neku?” Joshua asked

 

“Heh, you know it, and it’s pretty cool having a God of Death for a friend” Neku said with his left hand on his hip

 

Joshua then chuckled pulling back his hair

 

“I suppose there are some advantages to having us on our good side. Hee hee, especially since we are able to kill on a massive scale” Joshua said darkly

 

“thanks for ruining the moment” Neku thought

 

“you know, I still can’t get over how many other realities there are” Shiki added

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“yeah, same here. It’s kinda cool seeing what other ways of existing can show us” Neku said smiling a little

 

“So you guys ready?” he asked

 

His friends said they were but before they left Rhyme and Eri then asked Neku never told them about Mr. H being CAT.

 

He then replied telling them that it was to protect CAT’s identity. Smiling at how he was looking out for him, Eri added that she thinks it’s sweet of him to do that for Mr. H but to no longer keep secrets from them unless it’s too personal.

 

Neku then scratched his head feeling awkward and apologized, Shiki then giggled saying that it’s okay and that they’ll all keep the secret together, making Neku smile, relieved that Mr. H could still make his art.

 

He then closed his eyes and concentrated, teleporting him and all his friends to another alternate Shibuya

 

 

Once they arrived there Joshua remarked on how he’s been here before


	31. Another Day

Neku and his friends once again entered an alternate Shibuya, and as they walked around the city they asked Joshua how he got to this reality. He then explains to them that he ended up here when teleporting away from Neku in the UG making it look like he was Erased to protect Neku.

 

“So then…I guess that explains why we saw you again” Shiki said a little offended how he inflicted guilt on Neku

 

“yeah…then after that…we helped Phones take out Shades” Beat said grimly, remembering how shortly after that, Joshua betrayed Neku

 

“So then, it’s really true? That this Shibuya is more up beat than the real version?” Rhyme asked curious

 

“Yup…see for yourself” Joshua said smiling

 

They all looked ahead to see this realities’ Neku hiding his face in his collar and his hands in his pockets

 

“Same streets, same crowds too, same buildings reaching up to the sky…

 

This reality’s Neku then raised his head and smiled

 

“my kind of place!” he said happily

 

“What!?” the real Neku roared “I…I’m not like that am I?”

 

The Another Day Neku then closed his eyes for a second and prayed

 

Curious, Neku used his God powers to hear this Neku’s thoughts and thanks to the barrier he’s set up, he and his friends all heard the thoughts.

 

“Dear Lord, please make this day totally kickass and cool. Thanks! Peace” Another Day Neku said in his head

 

“There now it’ll be perfect” he mumbled

 

“WHAAAAT?!” the real Neku roared again

 

“I wonder where Shiki is? We could practice our Tin Pin slammer skills together! But…what if she’s sick? What if something’s happened to her?” Another Day Neku thought

 

He then felt disappointment rush over him at the thought of not hanging out with all his friends, that if she was missing it would be weird.

 

He then hid his face again feeling the sadness

 

“Wait…what’s this feeling?” he muttered

 

“Is it reality closing in? the pressures of the world trying to take me down? Is this my sadness?!

 

Neku’s friends couldn’t help but giggle finding this version of him, rather silly

 

“Must…fight…Emo urges” Another Day Neku said outloud

 

Neku then looked in shock

 

“Emo…urges?…I’m…

 

He then grabbed Joshua and shook his shoulders

 

“What the hell is this?!” Neku roared “I’m not like that…right? I mean yeah I have friends now but this is too weird!”

 

Joshua then pushed Neku back and chuckled

 

“Hee hee, what’s wrong? If I didn’t know any better I’d say this version of yourself freaks you out” Joshua said teasingly

 

“Heh heh, this version of you is…so silly” Eri said giggling

 

“yeah he’s really funny Neku” Rhyme chimed in

 

“though to be fair even if this version of you has friends now, like how the real you does…he does seem kind of….dorky. He seems kind of dramatic huh? with the Emo Urges thing” Shiki added

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“yeah, guess he is” Neku said with a smug smile

 

Before he could say anything else the alternate Neku cuts him off

 

“I HAVE TO HURRY! My friends are waiting! Tin Pin slammer is my life, my beacon of hope, to fight off my Emo urges! And I’ll be the best Tin Pin Slammer ever!” Another day Neku roared

 

Neku then just starred at the another day version

 

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!” Neku roared again

 

“WHY IS HE TALKING TO HIMSELF?! AND..WHAT THE HELL?! HE LIKES TIN PIN SLAMMER SO MUCH! WHY?! RRRRGH! THIS IS SO WEIRD!” Neku shouted

 

Neku’s friends then giggled at Neku’s shocked expression and his little freak out moments Neku then turned to his friends

 

“Oh I see, you find this funny, don’t you?” Neku said crossing his arms

 

“I bet this reality’s version of you guys will be just as weird as mine, so laugh it up all you want, but you’ll see” Neku said with a smug smile with his hand on his hip

 

They all laughed (with the acception of Joshua chuckling) and followed the Another Day Neku

 

He caught up with Beat and Rhyme, who behaved a lot like the real versions so there wasn’t as much of a reaction from Neku and his friends. They all walked around the city in search of Shiki and Joshua and found some of the Reapers.

 

“Hey mayor Kitaniji” Another Day Neku said smiling

 

“M-Mayor?!” Neku shouted

 

“Oh hey there Neku, How’ve you been? You seem to have a few people missing from your little group of friends” Major Kitaniji replied

 

“I’m good, and yeah, that’s cause we’re trying to find them right now actually” he added

 

“Oh well if you’re looking for that Shiki girl, I believe I saw her arguing with Uzuki earlier about the Prince over by Cat street” the mayor said smiling

 

“thanks for the tip” the alternate Neku replied

 

He and his friends then all headed there with the ghostly Neku and friends following them. As they all headed to Cat Street, Another Day Neku ran into someone.

 

“Oof, oh Neku I should’ve known you’d come running into my arms one day” the another day Joshua replied

 

“Wh-What?! Rrrgh! Must you always talk like that?!” the alternate Neku yelled shaking his fist

 

This alternate more……romantic Joshua then pouted

 

“Oh Neku, you’re a bruise on the tomato of my heart! You really need to watch what you say, if you don’t you could end up hurting someone’s feelings….like me. Hee hee” the alternate Joshua said pulling back his hair

 

The real Neku and Joshua looked at each other feeling uncomfortable

 

“And I thought the Joshua I knew was creepy” Neku thought feeling awkward

 

Joshua then placed his hands in his back pockets and chuckled

 

“You know, this is rather interesting wouldn’t you say Neku?” Joshua said slyly

 

“yeah….sure, that’s one way of putting it” Neku said clasping his shoulder feeling disturbed

 

 

Another Day Neku groaned

 

“ugh, look let’s just go get Shiki okay?” he said sternly

 

“So you came just for her and ran into me by accident? Oh my Dear Neku, that truly does hurt you know. But I’ll forgive you since I know you like me” Another Day Joshua said teasingly

 

The real Neku blushed at that statement

 

“this Joshua gives me the creeps….and that’s saying something” he thought

 

“Rrrgh! Let’s just go!” Neku yelled

 

“Of course dear” Joshua added

 

The alternate Shibuya teens all headed to Cat street and found Shiki, when they did, it made the real Shiki filled with sadness due to this image reminding her of who she was before but hid it for Neku’s sake wanting him to be happy.

 

“Uuugh! I’m telling you that I’m 777’s and the Prince’s most loyal fan!” Shiki roared

 

“Oh really?! Well I’ve known about Def March’s singer 777 for years! I knew about them before they got more publicity!” Another Day Uzuki shouted

 

“I knew about that too!” Another Day Shiki shouted back

 

The Another Day teens then cut in

 

“guys there’s nothing wrong with you both liking them!” Rhyme said smiling

 

“yeah, she’s right yo! Ain’t you guys gonna give it a rest?” Beat added

 

“No! We’ll see who’s the best through Tin Pin Slammer!” Shiki shouted pulling out a Def March pin

 

“heh I’m game!” Uzuki shouted

 

“Me too!” Another Day Neku added

 

“fine, best two out of three wins!” Uzuki said determined

 

“deal!” Neku shouted

 

They all played Tin Pin Slammer, with Neku being shocked at how good his alternate self really was

 

This Tin Pin loving Neku was able to use four pins, one for each finger and fired his pins at Uzuki making pins fly everywhere.

 

Neku beats Uzuki only losing two of his Pins and then Shiki took over with Uzuki beating her. Now it was a sort of, Sudden death match. Since both sides have lost they then went one more round with Shiki winning.

 

“Geez, and I thought that 5th grader I played against in the UG was good” Neku thought

 

Uzuki then snarled yelling that she would go listen to an Indie band taking pride in how no one’s heard of the band before and storms off.

 

The Another Day teens all smiled and laughed and all walked around the city some more.

 

Before the ghostly Neku and friends joined them Neku noticed that Shiki seemed sad. The real Shiki then hanged her head unable to hide her sadness anymore.

 

“it’s…me but….like when we were in the UG….remember Neku?” Shiki said weakly

 

Flashing back to that time Neku hanged his head hiding his face and hid his hands too.

 

“Remember? How could I possibly forget that?” Neku said sadly

 

“Hey Shiki come on, you know that that’s not really you remember? There’s no reason to get upset. You finally have your body back” Rhyme said smiling

 

“Yeah…I do have it back but…why? Why is that…it suddenly doesn’t matter?” Shiki said squeezing Mr. Mew

 

She then flashed back to when she was jealous of Eri and remembered the thoughts she’d have when she was around her.

 

“She’s cool, popular, everyone likes her and she’s super talented. Eri’s perfect. Why?! WHY CAN’T I BE THAT WAY TOO?!”

 

“Why is it that…I’m not myself here?! It’s like everything I went through in the UG never made a difference and--

 

“Just shut up” Neku snarled angrily

 

Shiki then looked at Neku in shock

 

“You really think that? That it was all for nothing? Come on Shiki, you just got better! Your Demon energy was making you think this exact same thing! This is an alternate reality remember? You getting your body back, going to the UG it never happened here. Based off of all the interactions we saw, I honestly think this is…some alternate Realground” Neku said trying to sound not as angry

 

“I mean, the Reapers here don’t even have their wings so…here, they’re human, like us. You’ve seen how crazy these alternate versions of us are, but that’s all they are alternate different. That’s not you anymore” he added

 

Neku then turned around to look at Shiki, who now had a little tear building up

 

“Getting your body back, wasn’t just you being brought back to life Shiki. It was you accepting who you are, and acknowledging and accepting that you were jealous of Eri. You’ve changed. you impacted me and…I…impacted you right? So don’t let this get to you. If you want, we could leave and--

 

Shiki then looked at Neku with tears drifting down her face and wiped them away having to take off her glasses and clean them before putting them back on.

 

“Thanks…Neku” she said weakly

 

Neku smiled at her but then hanged his head a little feeling a little empathetic knowing how much it hurts to have one’s past shoved back in their face

 

“I’m the one, who should be thanking you. …you were the first person…ever since losing Taki…that didn’t want to hurt me. You wanted to…understand me. I’m glad that you were my first partner” Neku said softly almost like a mumble

 

Beat and Rhyme then looked at each other smiling, along with Eri smiling at Neku and Shiki. Joshua then chuckled with his hands in his back pockets

 

“Heh, those two…I can see why Neku clicked with her so well in my Game after opening up a little. Neku lost who he was mentally, only knowing his name, and Shiki lost who she was physically. Both hurt by the world, both getting their souls broken from all their sadness. And yet, that very same pain, though triggered for different reasons making them clash, allowed Neku to understand her, knowing how lonely the world makes one feel” Joshua thought profoundly

 

“Although he said it himself, that we are a lot alike to the point Neku said I’m the first friend he could relate to, there’s still no denying that these two energies influenced each other, that they have similarities to each other” Joshua thought smiling a little

 

Neku then looked up and smiled at Shiki, walked up to her, placed his hands on her shoulders and closed his eyes generating a darkblue aura around him.

 

As he passed it onto Shiki, it made her smile as she felt herself become warm, like she was heating herself by a fireplace. He then lets go of her causing the aura to disappear and making Shiki open her eyes smiling at him

 

“Feel better?” he asked sincerely

 

“yeah, but are you okay Neku? You were generating your energy but on top of that still have that barrier of God energy around us, you know that that can drain yourself” Shiki said worried

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“heh, don’t worry I’m fine” he said with his left hand upward smiling “I was letting my energy go to you hoping something would happen, that it…

 

Neku then felt bashful and scratched his head turning away from her

 

“could help you”

 

Shiki then giggled at his shyness remembering how bashful he was when he explained why she was still in the Reapers’ Game

 

“Well it did, thanks…and…I wanna stay Neku. I was just sort of shocked to see that version of me I guess, kinda like how you were when you saw your demon form fight Mr. H” Shiki said reassuringly

 

“You’re welcome” Neku said smiling “and…well since you insist that you’re okay then…I’ll stay too”

 

“then let’s go, I wanna see what weird stuff they do next” Shiki said smiling

 

“Me too!” Rhyme added

 

The other friends then added that they wanted to stay too happy to see other realities. So then Neku and his friends all tracked the slightly different energies of their alternate versions and eventually caught up to them, however on their way to their Another Day counter parts, Neku heard a very attractive voice

 

“huh? Does that voice sound familiar to you guys?” Neku said curiously

 

“No who do you think she is?” Eri wondered

 

“no clue” Neku answered

 

They then walked trying to find the source of the voice thinking maybe their alternate versions aren’t too far away from her.

 

As the walked getting closer to the source of the voice they saw someone talking to Shooter telling him that a new Tin Pin Slammer tournament would start soon.

 

“Make sure you get some new pins” the female voice said sweetly

 

Shooter then looked in shock

 

“AAAAH! you’re….creepy” he shouted and then ran away

 

All of Neku’s friends looked in horror filled with disbelief seeing who said that

 

“Aw snap! That’s…no…no…NO! THIS IS SO WROOOONG! WHY?! WHAT THE HELL?!” Neku shouted squeezing his hair

 

Rhyme just stared with her eyes trembling

 

“this….is so creepy” she mumbled

 

“No way that’s…but….how?! NOW IS HE DOING THAT?!” Shiki shouted terrified

 

“My my, Yodai’s voice is rather feminine” Joshua said curiously with his right hand on his chin

 

“That’s…the Reaper you and Shiki fought…right Neku?” Eri said weakly feeling chills go down her spine

 

“yeah but…not like this” Neku said shocked

 

“Damn…this is…so messed up yo” Beat said clasping his shoulder

 

Yodai pouted seeing Shooter run away and then walked away in the other direction, unaware that he was walking towards Neku and his friends

 

“Oh why does that always happen to me?” Yodai said sadly

 

As the masculine Reaper walked up to Neku he looked up terrified feeling disturbed

 

“he’s not a GIRL!?!?!? HE’S NOT A GIIIIIIIIIIIIIRL!” Neku screamed in his head

 

He then tiptoed away from Yodai

 

“guys!” he whispered “Guys now we can get away from him….her….thingy”

 

“why are you whispering? He can’t hear us” Eri shouted

 

Seeing how he was so caught up in the moment, having the masculine Reaper with a sexy female voice walk away from him, Neku couldn’t help but want to avoid seeing that….He/she…thing ever again. Causing him to quietly walk away.

 

Rhyme then giggled at Neku’s reaction. deciding to play along, she followed Neku quietly along with the others following him leaving Joshua behind.

 

“heh, he’s such…a dork. Hee hee, who would’ve thought Neku has such a funny side to him too” Joshua thought

 

He then walked quietly joining the others

 

“I think that Yodai….thing guy, girl is gone” Neku said quietly

 

He then lets out a sigh of relief. Neku then smiled seeing his alternate self not too far away from him and told his friends he spotted them.

 

The ghosts and Composer than ran to the Another Day teens seeing them play Tin Pin Slammer. After they were done they discussed where they wanted to go.

 

“Hey Neku you want to go to that place again?” Another Day Shiki asked

 

“huh? Oh you mean that weird place where we saw another Joshua?” Another Day Neku replied

 

“yeah, I remember him, he had that white feather yo. It looked all glowy ‘n stuff” the alternate Beat added

 

“I think it’d be a good idea to go there just to check and see if he’s still there. I mean we haven’t gone there since last time, the time we saw him. I wonder if his friend ever came for him?” the alternate Rhyme added

 

The ghosts all looked at Joshua who chuckled with his hands in his back pockets

 

“I see they still remember my visit from the Reapers game. Hee hee, I must say it is rather flattering” Joshua said smugly

 

“ugh, what’d you to this other Neku Joshua!” Eri said sternly

 

“oh, nothing really. I just used an Angel feather to recreate the events the real Neku went through and had him fight the GMs and other events from the Reapers’ Game. Although this happy Neku has never played the Game before he still managed to put up a good fight. Mr. H also tested him by using two feathers with Noise energy within them and--

 

“wait, wait, wait, is this the other Mr. H or the real one, the one who went to get you?” Neku said shocked

 

“the real one. Mr. H as you know, has a deep respect for you Neku. Both for how powerful the energy within you, what you are now, is and he also has respect for you who are. Even back then Neku, he’s always liked you wanting to guide you and be there for you, watching over you and also wanted to test your strength” Joshua replied

 

Neku then smiled a little

 

“Yeah…he’s always been there for me, even before I died in Udagawa…so, what did he do to test my strength? It’s not like he could’ve done that in the Reapers’ Game right?” Neku said curious

 

“Exactly, so he wanted to see what you could do, settling for the alternate happy Neku. He focused Noise energy into his Angel feathers making them become the color of the Noise he’d unleash, however, Mr. H did something he wasn’t sure he could do before until that fight” Joshua explained with a smug smile

 

“well what was it?” Neku said urgently

 

“Mr. H fought the other Neku, as two separate Noise” Joshua answered

 

Hearing such a thing made Neku gasp out of shock, and little bit of fear. He knows all too well how powerful the Guardian Angel is and that on top of that he took advantage of the animal forms Noise have, using their strength to his advantage. He knows that having such power Mr. H could kill him very easily.

 

“Neku?” Joshua said remarking on his frightened look

 

Neku then flashed back to the Angels’ Game, the hard version, remembering how Mr. H had to attack him being a Hunter and how Mr. H electrocuted him with Angel energy, remembering how much the energy burned him.

 

He also remembered when Mr. H chased him in the Angels’ Game making him think that the man he respects so much was trying to kill him.

 

“He…fought me as…Noise?” Neku whispered

 

He then felt someone hold his hand

 

“Neku, it‘s okay. You know Mr. H would never hurt you, Joshua said it was just a test. A way to see how strong you are, I know…how scary that is, cause we’ve both fought him before, with him nearly killing us but that was for the Angels’ Game, Mr. H would never hurt you Neku. He’s our friend” Shiki said reassuringly

 

Neku then took a deep breath and sighed

 

“yeah…thanks” he said weakly

 

“Don’t mention it” Shiki answered

 

At that moment Neku and his friends saw what the alternate version of himself and his friends decided on.

 

“Okay, so it’s settled we’ll go to that place the other Joshua was but…that place was so creepy” the Another Day Shiki said

 

“Well…if you’re scared, I can go on my own” the Another Day Neku added

 

“What?! Neku that’s dangerous! That place is so dark and huge that you could get lost!” the other Shiki yelled

 

“yeah, what if you got stuck there, then no one could find you!” the other Rhyme added

 

“I could never allow you to go there alone, why if anything happened to you, I could never forgive myself. My dear Neku, you can’t go there alone” the other Joshua said…passionately

 

The other Beat stared in shock

 

“BWAAAAAHAAH! AGAIN?! YOU GUYS AIN’T…NOT REALLY RIGHT?! YOU AIN’T REALLY LIKE THAT?!?!” Beat yelled

 

“really like what?” the other Neku asked

 

The other Shiki then rubbed her arm feeling embarrassed

 

“You know…like last time. Pink and Blue go together” she said weakly

 

“Oh, no, I’m not Pink anymore remember? I, am rainbow” the other Joshua said smiling

 

“Rainbow? Constantly hits on me?…oh no” the real Neku thought

 

The Another day Neku then looked wide eyed and then turned to Joshua roaring with rage.

 

“Rrrrgh! Now look what you’ve done! AGAIN JOSHUA! Seriously, cut that out it’s weird!” Neku yelled

 

“AGAIN?!” the real Shiki thought “So this Joshua’s hit on Neku before? Ugh so creepy”

 

“Oh but Neku I can’t help myself dear” Another Day Joshua said smiling

 

“Uuugh! Do you always have to be so creepy? There’s no way I’m letting you of all people be alone with Neku. If anything happens I want to see…I mean stop it” the Another Day Shiki added

 

“I want to SEE IT?!” Neku screamed in his head “Great so even Shiki’s a pervert in this reality”

 

“Good idea Shiki that way we all can help my dear Neku if anything happens to him” Another Day Joshua said pulling back his hair

 

The Another day Neku sighed and they all walked to the Shibuya River with the ghosts and Composer following as they walked, the Another Day Joshua tried to pat Neku's but, something that made the real Neku scream "WHAT THE HELL" at the real Joshua demanding to know why his other version was reaching for the other Neku's but. he then reassured his proxy that he would never try to touch his but...but if he saw Neku sleeping it may be a temptation.

Neku then groaned and they all continued following the other versions. The Another Day teens all went to the Death God’s Pad and saw that the real Joshua was missing

 

“Oh, I guess his friend came to take him home” the other Neku said smiling

 

He then hid his face feeling a little concerned

 

“Hm? What’s wrong Neku dear?” the other Joshua said smiling

 

“Nothing…I just…I feel Emo alright? There I said it” Another Day Neku said weakly

 

“Huh? How come?” Another Day Shiki asked

 

“well, sometimes I can’t help but wonder about this. If there’s another Joshua, then that means there are other versions of ourselves out there…right? So…what does that mean? are we all apart of one version of reality? Heh…just listen to me…I sound crazy” Another Day Neku said weakly

 

Another Day Beat started to laugh

 

“Hey man, don’ worry about that crap yo. That was prob’ly jus’ a guy that looks like him yo” the other Beat added

 

The Another Day Neku then smiled at the other Beat

 

“Yeah, guess you’re right” he said relieved that he wasn’t insane

 

After the Another Day teens talked a bit more Neku and his friends visited more alternate realities. In one of them everyone was opposite of their real gender making Neku a girl and Shiki a boy, with different names. Girl Neku was ironically named Merodi (Melody in Japanese)

 

On top of that, in this reality the girl Neku liked sports being the total opposite of the real Neku and the boy Shiki (being named Jikan or Tempo) liked music and were even dating. Seeing their alternate versions hold hands as they walked around Shibuya made them feel uncomfortable.

 

Seeing such a thing then lead Eri to ask a question.

 

“Hey Neku…did you ever…date someone?” she said curious

 

Neku then looked at her shocked

 

“What?! Where’s all of this coming from?” he roared

 

Eri then giggled

 

“Just curious” she said smiling

 

Neku then clasped his right shoulder looking down a little, filled with embarrassment and, a little sadness thinking back to his old self’s behavior

 

“No…I um…I’ve never dated cause…I didn’t want to. I found people to be so annoying, worthless, and stupid…just people letting me down and holding me back so…why date? Why get involved in something that’ll just get you nowhere?” he said weakly

 

Shiki then hanged her head

 

“Neku…don’t go back, that sounds like something the old you would say” she said sadly

 

“Sorry” he said hiding his face

 

Seeing how this was a touchy subject, Eri felt guilty and tried to cheer him up

 

“Sorry that I brought that up. Believe me…I…understand now, thanks to how you let me in, allowing me to get to know you, I can see why you never did” Eri said sadly

 

Neku then raised his head and smiled at her

 

“But…thanks to you guys, I know not all relationships lead to sadness. They can build trust and loyalty” he said smiling

 

Rhyme then giggled happy that Neku remembered that causing Shiki and Eri to smile too

 

“Heh, thanks Neku” Shiki said smiling

 

Neku then scratched his head feeling a little embarrassed, feeling like he opened up maybe too much

 

“Um…it was nothing” he said bashfully

 

The ghosts then all hanged out in this alternate Shibuya and saw their Gender swapped selves all hang out wandering the streets together. Merodi even taught the boy Jikan how to play tennis.

 

They then hanged out together at Miyashita park and Beat and Rhyme’s gender swapped selves see Joshua’s girl self.

 

Due to how awkward Neku and his friends felt they then went to another reality. In this reality it was the home of the Noise, though it was still Shibuya, the Noise here interacted with each other and never interacted with humans. It was almost as if they were in a sub-world, a world right in between the RG and UG. when Players contact Noise, they're brought to the Noise Plane

 

In this realm Neku and his friends looked in shock and all got ready to fight being surrounded by Noise, seeing them go in and out of their Symbol form and animal form. However, the Noise ignored them. Almost as if they couldn’t see them.

 

“Joshua? What’s going on?” Neku said standing normally

 

Joshua then placed his hand over his mouth and thought about what he’d just seen

 

“Hmmm, apparently your God energy barrier is cloaking us here too. Which explains why they didn’t attack us just now. I guess they don’t sense us, however it’s obviously the other way around since we all felt their energy, suggesting that we could interact with them too” Joshua explained

 

“that’s a relief” Shiki said glad to not fight so many Noise

 

“yeah, that’d be insane having to fight this many Noise” Rhyme added

 

“Tell me about it, I don’t think anyone could” Eri said weakly

 

“Heh, I know I couldn’t” Neku said with his hands in his pockets “Especially since…the Noise tend to get stronger the longer you last the Reapers’ Game. Infact that increase in strength they had would nearly get me killed from time to time”

 

Neku then closed his eyes trying to just focus on good thoughts again, but instead flashed back to when Uzuki surrounded him with Noise on the first day of the 3rd week. He then opened his eyes and smiled just happy to be with his friends, that the dream that turned into a nightmare was over, that he had survived the Game.

 

They saw every breed of Noise in this realm including the forms that the Game Masters had shocking Neku and his former partners

 

“Whoa…Shades, Konichi, the first GM, and even Pi-Face’s Noise forms are here…but, how come? I thought they were erased” Neku said with his arms crossed

 

“that’s cause, just like how erasing a human releases their mind and soul,like with Rhyme, Sota and Nao. when a Noise is erased, a similar thing occurs where the Noise’s energy is released causing them to end up back here. their energy then takes their shape of their original forms. basically they go back to their Plane of existence” Joshua explained

 

“So all the Noise that were Erased end up here here again? this is, their dimension? Damn…that’s insane there’s so many” Neku remarked

 

Joshua then chuckled and pointed out Mr. H’s Noise forms

 

“But how would you know what they look like if you never saw those forms?” Eri asked Joshua

 

“cause when Mr. H picked me up he showed me the feathers Eri, I then used my Composer eyes to look into the feathers and see the Noises within” Joshua said with his hands in his back pockets

 

“man that’s…so cool” she said stunned

 

Neku and his friends then spotted a Progfox Noise making Neku gasp as he flashed back to the fox transforming into a clone of him with its head as a mask worn on clone Neku’s head and remembered it unleashing the Stellar Fury attack on Neku hitting him with rapid slashes.

 

He then also saw a bunch of Neoccoustic jellyfish and told Eri and Rhyme how they cloned themselves shooting lightning bolts at him and how they started to drain his health and was surrounded by clones of them the first time he fought that breed.

 

“it sounded like you were in a lot of trouble Neku” Eri said concerned

 

“Yeah but luckily I was so good at using Psychs by then that that didn’t happen again” Neku said smiling at her concern for his safety

 

They then spotted some pig Noise causing a certain song to play, Neku’s MP3 seemed to always scroll to that song when they appeared. Joshua, Beat and Shiki chuckled when they heard Dancer in the Street begin to play. They saw a Samba Pig Noise

 

“Huh? I remember that piggy” Neku chuckled “Heh, that’s the one where Joshua and I…ended up…having to close our eyes in time with the Piggy for it to be Erased”

 

“really? That’s so weird. So how did that Erase it?” Rhyme asked

 

“When we opened our eyes we saw it dissolve to static…weird huh?” Neku said smiling

 

“I’ll say” Eri added

 

They then noticed the piggy was walking to the beat of the song, and would jump at the vocal part of Dancer in the Street

 

“Heh heh, hey look at that” Neku said pointing to the piggy

 

His friends then chuckled seeing the piggy move to the beat. Curious Neku kneeled down and held his hand out to the piggy. It got closer and the moment it made contact with Neku’s hand, the piggy shrieked.

 

Neku drew back his hand and stood up in shock seeing the piggy fall on its back and its legs began twitching.

 

“What the hell yo?! What’d you do Phones?!” Beat roared

 

“I…I don’t know! I just petted it!” Neku shouted

 

The piggy’s shrieks came louder and faster as the legs twitched faster until it dissolved into sparks. At that moment all the Noise looked at Neku and his friends

 

“Oops” Neku said weakly

 

“Neku it’s already using a lot of concentration for you to keep that God energy barrier up, you can’t afford to waste energy. We can’t fight them off” Joshua warned him

 

“right…get ready guys” Neku said in his focusing pose

 

They then all closed their eyes and teleported to another reality. Once they entered it they noticed something felt ominous. Neku and his friends followed the presence leading them to an even more ominous location. They entered the room finding the source of the energy they felt making Neku’s eyes tremble knowing what it meant for this figure to be in front of them.

 

 

 

To be continued…


	32. Roll Reversal

He looked filled with terror seeing the being that was in the Room of Reckoning, the room where he had to shoot his friend, or risk Shibuya being destroyed by him. The room had such an amount of force to it, he’d been here before but now, seeing this room a second time, Neku noticed something. It was something that sent chills down his spine.

  


He saw that near the throne chair there were two building like structures separated by the one with a serpent design on it. On the two other structures he saw an image of an Angel and what looked like the Grim Reaper.

  


Seeing the connection, Neku felt chills go down his spine flashing back to what Joshua told him about his past and about Reapers.

  


_“Reapers carry out Death’s work by killing humans in the Reapers’ Game”_

 

As he looked back and forth at the two pillars her made another connection

 

"Angels are thought to symbolize life...and the Grim Reaper symbolizes death. Joshua...he has power over both life and death. A god of Death...his true form, what he really is...was hinted at right here all along." he thought nervously

_  
  
_

Neku then remembered Joshua’s past and how he and Mr. H played the Reapers' Game. Having limitless knowledge with his God energy lingering over him as the barrier, it then puts the final pieces together.

  


“Mr. H helps keep the Reapers’ Game in check and…a Reaper is, someone with a mind and soul that vastly exceeds a human’s having an increase in their imaginations but they WERE HUMAN, and powerful Reapers have the ability to become Noise meaning that…since both Angels and Reapers can make Noise then…Reapers and Angels…are connected” he thought terrified

  


“You…You can’t…You just can’t exist. I…didn’t do it. I didn’t kill him” Neku said just beyond a whisper

  


Neku and his friends gazed with dread at Shibuya’s new Composer

  


“Exactly, and by you choosing not to kill Joshua, it made this reality come into existence. I am Shibuya’s Composer…another you” Composer Neku said darkly in his true distorted voice

  


“What?! But that doesn’t make sense! Neku would never kill anyone unless he really had to, out of self-defense! Like in the Reapers' Game!” Shiki roared with Mr. Mew nodding his head as he hung on to Shiki’s shoulders

  


“Hmph, that’s an odd remark. Especially since it’s coming from the very same girl that I killed in the Game” the Death God replied

  


Shiki’s eyes then watered and she became a sickly white color

  


“No…Neku…you, killed me?” she said weakly

  


“As I said before, this reality took form based off of what your Neku DIDN’T do in the Reapers’ Game. Once I killed the UG Shiki, preventing her from ever seeing Eri, her family or being herself ever again, Mr. H took me to his coffee shop where I would remain until he figured out a way for me to survive the Game…well…after he scolded me for killing my partner” Death God Neku said emotionlessly

  


“He ended up sealing her soul inside a pin and I made a pact with her soul enabling me to technically have a partner again. Beat then ended up hating me for killing Shiki, the same goes for his sister and as a result, we never became friends. Joshua is the only factor that remained the same. Also, Rhyme was never erased due to Beat never falling into the trap set up by the first Game Master” Composer Neku explained

  


“I…can’t believe this…this is…so cruel” Shiki said hurt

  


“I…I killed her? and in this world, Beat and Rhyme…they hate me?” Neku said weakly

  
  


“Yes in fact, many things were different as a result from that. Since Shiki didn’t have a physical form anymore, she wouldn’t be able to attack you in the Composer’s Pad" Composer Neku said darkly  
  
  
  
he then snapped his fingers showing what happened next as an illusion to Neku and his friends causing them to see the fight as Composer Neku talked about it, almost narrating what happened  
  
  
"There you met Megumi once again and fought him, since he had you all to himself he savagely attacked you with his energy and time manipulation nearly killing you, making you slam against the glass floor of the Composer's pad, nearly breaking it, filling you with agony. And yet, Beat and Rhyme saved you, just like the real Game” he continued

  
  
  
Neku looked at his UG self, terrified as he saw himself run out of his Cure Drink and his other pins were crushed. he and his friends saw UG Neku pant exhausted and filled with pain and saw pieces of glass scattered on the ground from Neku being sent flying from Megumi's attacks and saw Beat and Rhyme rush in shielding UG Neku from the attacks  
  


“He said that he was going to become Composer and bring back Shiki and decided to help you defeat Megumi to honor Shiki and how kind she was to you” The Composer said sternly

  


“You all fought as hard as you could and succeeded in defeating the Conductor however, since he couldn’t use Shiki, once you ended the first week and woke up in the scramble crossing again, you had the red skull pin already on you. Just before he pretended to be Erased, Megumi activated your pin and you attacked Beat and Rhyme knocking them out” he added

  


Composer Neku then stood up ending the Illusion, returning everyone to the Room of Reckoning and making Neku and his friends gasp

  


“Allow me to show you the rest” he said sternly

  


The Death God then held his hand out to Neku causing him to shield his face and cringe fearing the worse with his friends all shielding themselves too. Neku and his friends then opened their eyes and saw himself in the Composer’s Pad.

  


The UG Neku squeezed his hair desperately trying to gain control over himself, unaware that this Joshua was more powerful in his human form in this reality, stopping the mind control using his mind while still in the Another Day reality.

  


“Nngh! The pain in my head…it’s gone” Neku thought

  


He then looked to his left and saw that Beat and Rhyme were knocked out

  


“Did I do that?” he thought

  


“Well, they have each other and don't care about me so…they don’t need me, and I don’t need them”

  


Neku then looked around the Composer’s pad trying to find an exit

  


“Nothing’s here…

  


He then pulled out the player pin from his hand

  


“Or maybe, the way out is hidden, like those visions in Joshua’s head…they’re only visible with this pin” the UG Neku thought

  


He then tossed the pin in the air and closed his eyes, he then opened hem to see the door and run towards it. Once he reached the other side, he saw CAT’s Tagmural as he ran to the next room.

  


As he ran to the Room of Reckoning Neku noticed the graffiti and stopped running, taking time to admire it.

  


“this is…CAT’s graffiti…but what’s it doing here? …it can’t be, he couldn’t be that right? No I know he’s not” Neku said weakly

  


“Do what you want, how you want, when you want. I don’t get people never have, never will…but now…the only person I could ever relate too…is gone. Joshua…he protected me, I accused him of being my killer and never even got to apologize!” he said hiding his face

  


“I don’t give a rat’s ass about what people think of me…all I need is CAT. I’ll end this Game Joshua…thanks, for giving me a second chance at living” he said weakly

  


Neku then ran to the next room and entered the Room of Reckoning.

  


“Come out Composer! Fight me! This is how it’s supposed to be right?! This is what you wanted RIGHT?!” Neku shouted in the empty room

  


Neku then hanged his head filled with grief

  


“Come out and fight…Mr. H” he said with sorrow as he cried

  


“Mr. H? Who’s that?” a voice said

  


Neku then gasped and turned around him

  


“You?! But I just beat you!” Neku roared shaking his fist

  


Megumi then laughed

  


“here you are at the final stage, and you still don’t understand anything I see. Mr. H is not the Composer, the true Composer just left, so sorry you missed him. Still the same as ever eh Neku?” Megumi said with an evil smile

  


“Still the same? did you…expect me to change?” Neku said confused hiding his face

  


“Of course, usually people grow and change when they play the Reapers’ Game and yet…you have nothing different about you. Your values have remained the same, with the only real change being that you befriended Joshua…such a shame he had to die hm?” the Conductor said slyly

  


Neku then raised his head and shook his fist again enraged by the Conductor’s remark

  


“Rrrgh! Shut up! Joshua was erased cause he gave up his life to protect me, he saved me! he did that cause he's...

  


Neku then hanged his head

  


“cause…he’s…my friend. They all leave me…Friends…it’s nothing but an empty word” Neku said darkly

  


He then thought about what Mr. H said

  


“If you want to enjoy life, expand your world. You gotta push out your horizons as far as they’ll go”

_  
  
_

“But…pushing out your horizons to expand your world and enjoy life…it’s worth the risk of being with new people right?” Neku said hiding his face

  


Megumi then laughed

  


“Don’t be so ignorant Neku. What has your interactions with people ever brought you? Only pain and sadness. You open up to them, tell them your secrets, trust them and care about them. Then how do they repay your loyalty? By betraying you, backstabbing you, revealing that their ties to you, meant nothing” Megumi said sternly

  


“Yeah” Neku said hiding his face

  


He then raised it and screamed at the Conductor

  


“Friends are just idiots that laugh and pretend to care about you, making you expose yourself and getting yourself HURT! So screw them! I’m better off without people! All of them! Those three weeks, all they did was just show me how worthless people are!”

  


“All they ever do is let me down…you can’t trust people. I can do what I want How I want when I want, and expand my horizons by doing what I want to” Neku said crossing his arms

  


Megumi then laughed glad to see they have so much in common

  


“I’ve been wanting to change that about people for a very long time Neku. To rid the world of betrayal, sadness, and pain. A world where no one can shove their values in your face, but rather respect your values and never try to force their’s on you” Megumi said smiling

  


Neku then gasped and looked at him in shock over the idea of such a Paradise

  


“But such a world…isn’t possible! I mean I remember scanning the people in Shibuya and they were all thinking and saying one thing…but, will that really make such a world become real? How is that possible?”

  


“it’s possible with  _this_ ” Megumi explained

  


He then held out the red skull pin

  


“this pin enables mind control, those thoughts you heard people say were all imprinted by me” Megumi said with a little laugh

  


Neku then gasped in shock

  


“I…I have that pin! Were you going to so that to me too?!” Neku shouted

  


“Well…at first yes, Neku…but I see how you’ve refused to allow anyone in, to allow anyone to mold you into what they want you to be, and that is a very good trait to have…however…all the ills of the world can be traced back to individuality” Megumi said smiling

  


“Ills? Are you saying that if we all think the same then…the world I wish was real…could exist?” Neku said weakly

  


“Of course!” he replied “Clashing viewpoints lead to disputes and those differences lead to disagreements! Disagreements lead to anger, and anger leads to aggression which leads to chaotic behavior! and that behavior can lead to crime! Murder, theft, arson, humanity walks in an endless catacomb of selfish wants and desires! willing to do anything to get what they want, even if it resorts to causing harm to another person. With this pin…all of it can be erased now and forever”

  


Neku then hid his face with his hands in his pockets

 

  
  
“I’ve kept an eye on you Neku Sakuraba, I see much potential in you. You understand the pain of the world, the mistrust the people of the world inflict, being nothing more than savage dogs all barking to prove who’s the loudest, determined to shout out their values proving theirs is the best. We can change that Neku, we see eye to eye" Megumi said with an evil smile  
  
"We can create a Paradise, a perfect world to do what you like. With your help, what started on these streets can spread across the globe with these pins, making everyone share one value, one idea. we can change this world with Shibuya as our throne. So...what do you say? Will you help me change Shibuya?” Megumi said darkly

  


Neku stood in silence thinking about his decision

  


“A Paradise…a world where…no one forces their values on me. A world without annoying people, a world where I can be free…like CAT’s slogan” he thought carefully

  


The real Neku and friends all looked in shock

  


“Don’t…don’t do it” the real Neku whispered to his oldself

  


The UG Neku then raised his head and looked at Megumi seriously

  


“I’m in” he said darkly

  


Megumi then lets out a sinister laugh

  


“excellent” Megumi said sinisterly

  


“You know, I honestly thought when starting this Game that I would have to kill you to prevent the Composer from achieving his goal, but since everything’s going so smoothly I suppose that will no longer be necessary” the Conductor said smiling

  


“Kill me?! What deal?! What’re you talking about?!” Neku roared

  


“The Composer made this Game to decide whether or not to destroy this city. I don’t want the city to perish, but rather be altered, so we made a deal…create the paradise I want to please the Composer in a month, or the Composer would go through with his plan to destroy Shibuya. Now there’s only one thing I need you to do” Megumi explained

  


“No” the real Neku whispered

  


“Give me your Player Pin” Megumi said darkly

  


Without hesitation the old Neku gave it to the Conductor, seeing this as part of the plan to make a Paradise. The Conductor then crushed it and placed his Red Skull pin in Neku’s left hand.

  
  
  


“Now, remove the Red Skull Pin you have Neku" Megumi said darkly  
  
  
  
Neku then reached into his pocket and pulled out the Red Skull Pin and held it with his right hand   
  
  
  
"Good, and  now give these to the last Players of the Game” the Conductor instructed

  


“the Last Players? you mean--

  


“Yo! You ain’t doin’ nothing yo! No one’s gonna be the Composer but ME!” Beat shouted

  


“Yeah and we’re going to bring Shiki back!” Rhyme added

  


Neku then gasped and looked behind him seeing Beat and Rhyme run up to him.

 

“Phones!” Beat shouted

  


“Neku!” Rhyme yelled

  


“Yo man, I don’ know what that punk’s been tellin’ ya, but you can’t believe it man! He’s the one that gave me my mission when I was a Reaper yo! He’s the one that wanted me to kill you!” Beat roared

  


Neku then squeezed the red skull pins as he looked down at them

  


“so…what does it matter? You never even cared about me…and I sure as hell don’t give a rat’s ass about you. People just…hurt each other…you can’t trust them, opening up to people gets you hurt! Don’t you know that?! Besides, according to what you said to me in the first week, I’m just dirt. I’m nothing special…that’s why no one likes me right? I’m a whiney little bitch with no friends?” He said sternly

  


Beat then hanged his head

  


“Look I was just mad at you Phones…I jus’…wanted to help you an’ Shiki yo, but you just pushed me an’ Rhyme away to da point I got pissed yo. I didn’t mean it” Beat said sadly

  


“This Game’s been hard for all of us Neku, we’re still mad at you for killing Shiki but, it’s not like we would want you to get hurt or something” Rhyme said sadly

  


“Neku” Megumi said darkly “Now’s the time…do this, and we’ll have a perfect world”

  


The real Neku's irises then trembled as he saw his oldself actually pausing for a moment as he stared at the red skull pins in his hands

  


“No…don’t do this…this isn’t living life like the way CAT promotes it! Why don’t you see that?! If you did that to Beat and Rhyme you’d be forcing your values on them! You'd be taking their free will away! Shibuya doesn’t need to change!” the real Neku cried wishing the UG version could hear him

  


The Composer Neku merely frowned at the Ghost

 

“Ignorant spirit…the world is better off this way” The Composer Neku thought disgusted by the real Neku

  


The Old Neku then took one step towards Beat and Rhyme but was then frozen in place.

  


Joshua then appeared in the Room of Reckoning

  


“I’m back Megumi” he said with his hands in his back pockets

  


“Composer, sir! Excellent timing! Neku was about to help me complete my goal by making the last two Players wear the Red Skull Pins” the Conductor explained

  


“Ah I see but, have you forgotten that Neku is MY Proxy? By allowing him to live, since he’s fighting in my place, I technically win the bet” Joshua said with his hand on his chin

  


“Yes, that is our bet sir, but things have changed. Neku Sakuraba shares the same ideals as I do. We can make that Paradise now to make a better Shibuya. He doesn’t care for anyone in that city. I win” Megumi said defiantly

  


Joshua then chuckled and walked towards Neku, he then grabbed the two red skull pins and crushed them.

  


“NOOOOOO! I WILL protect Shibuya!” Megumi roared

  


Joshua then snapped his fingers and unfroze Neku making him look behind him to see his partner from the 2nd week

  


“J-Joshua?! But…how?! I thought that you were Erased and--

  


“In a minute Neku” Joshua said cutting him off

  


Megumi then summoned the energy would use to fuse with Joshua creating the Dragon Noise the Real Neku fought, however in this reality, in some ways, this Joshua was much more hostile. He side steps away from the energy and snapped his fingers freezing the Conductor in place

 

Joshua then summoned a pistol in his right hand and aimed it at the Conductor

  


“Sir? Wait…what’re you doing?!” Megumi shouted

  


“Look at your timer Megumi” Joshua said darkly

  


He then saw that it was at its last few seconds and then looked back up at Joshua

  


“Game over Megumi. It was a noble effort…and in some ways…I wish your idea would work. But Humans are too ignorant. Time’s up” he said sinisterly

  


“No! My home...the streets I know and love, will all be gone? I have no regrets, it was an honor sir” Megumi said sadly

  


Joshua cocked the gun and fired at Megumi’s head startling Neku with the loud bang blaring from the gun. The Conductor then dissolved into static.

  


“He…he killed him?” Neku muttered nervously

  


“Joshua, what’s going on?!” Neku shouted

  


“It was me Neku…all of it, I’m Shibuya’s Composer”  Joshua said lowering the gun to his side.

  


He then explained everything to his Proxy, however unlike the real Joshua, this one showed remorse.

  


“I…I’m so sorry for all that’s happened. I know I’ve put you through so much. I never really liked people either Neku. In fact, I hate people…and yet I can see what Megumi wanted to do…I wanted to destroy Shibuya. I was going to make the entire city face erasure. I’m…just so selfish that I wasn’t able to see that there are some good people in the city too….people like you” Joshua said weakly

  


“Wh-What? Joshua…what’re you saying?” Neku said shocked

  


“through the second week, I saw something different in you. You still hate people…just like me, but…you were able to accept one person right?” Joshua said smiling

  


“yeah…cause I learned that there are people out there who are…like me” Neku said hiding his face

  


“So then…as a friend…I want to ask something” Joshua said a little sad

  


“Joshua? What…what’s going on? What’re you saying? Just…what the hell do want me to do?!” Neku roared shaking his fist

  


“I’m an awful Composer…before I tell what I want…I want to show you something” Joshua replied

  


He then got several feet away from Neku and snapped his fingers allowing Neku to see the events of the Reapers’ Game starting with when Shiki was asking Beat and Rhyme for advice and how they were annoyed by Neku

  


They discussed how they would work together, with the Antisocial Neku disconnecting from everyone as usual keeping distance from Beat and Rhyme as Shiki talked to them. Once they all got to an agreement Shiki asked Neku what he thinks

  


“Do what you want! I work alone…I don’t need people” Neku said darkly

“Why you gotta be this way yo?! Can’t you see we tryin’ to help you?!” Beat roared

_  
  
_

“I never asked for help” Neku said clasping his shoulder

_  
  
_

“if we stick together we’ll be able to increase the odds of us surviving! It‘s okay, you can trust us” Rhyme said persistently

_  
  
_

“Trust?!” Neku snarled

_  
  
_

Neku then his hid face with his hands in his pockets

_  
  
_

“I don’t trust you…I don’t trust anyone” he said darkly

_  
  
_

Rhyme then hanged her head

_  
  
_

“Forget I said anything. C’mon Beat” Rhyme said sad

_  
  
_

“RAAAAH! DAMN IT! DON’T YOU SEE WHAT WE WERE TRYIN’ TO DO?! WHY ARE YOU SUCH AN ASS HUH?!” Beat shouted

_  
  
_

But Neku ignored him

_  
  
_

“Oh so now it’s gonna be like that?!” Beat said even more angry

_  
  
_

“Beat it’s okay, just go…I’ll catch up with you guys” Shiki said sadly

_  
  
_

Beat then walked past Shiki and up to Neku

_  
  
_

“You know why you don’ trust people yo?! Why you so annoying and mopey?! It’s cause of stuff like this! That’s why you got no friends right?! How could you being so pushy all the time HUH?! You ain’t nothing but dirt man! There’s nothing special ‘bout you! You’re jus’ a whiney li’l bitch wid no friends!” Beat roared

_  
  
_

“BEAT THAT’S ENOUGH!” Shiki shouted “Neku’s just…hard to get to know…that’s all”

_  
  
_

“Heh, yeah well…good luck Shiki, you gonna need it with that loser of a Partner” Beat said clasping his shoulder

_  
  
_

“C’mon Rhyme, let’s bounce”

_  
  
_

“yeah” she said sadly

_  
  
_

The real Neku felt his eyes water, those words stung him he couldn’t believe Beat said that, even if it was an alternate version. They all then saw how the UG Neku killed Shiki

  
_  
_

“Please…don’t kill me” Shiki said weakly

_  
  
_

“I have to” Neku said in a dark tone of voice

_  
  
_

They then saw Neku generate orbs in his hand and levitated Shiki into the air while also choking her. She wheezed and coughed as she tried to breathe

_  
  
_

“N-Ne…ku” she wheezed

_  
  
_

As he focused on choking her the orbs all gathered and became a giant orb and shot it at Shiki.

_  
  
_

It had so much force and power packed into it that the moment it struck Shiki, her body leaned from the impact and hen her body fell with a gaping hole in her chest revealing static. She fell lower to the ground and her whole body dissolved into static.

_  
  
_

“I…I killed her” Neku thought in shock

_  
  
_

Uzuki then laughed

_  
  
_

“Great job but wait...oh oops…I guess that’s not how you leave the Reapers’ Game after all. You’re still in the UG” she said slyly

_  
  
_

“WHAT?!” Neku said shocked “But you said that I would get out! I KILLED SOMEONE! You lied to me!”

_  
  
_

“Ugh no I didn’t. Erasure would be leaving the Game too you know, and since you no longer have a partner, you’ll be gone pretty soon” Uzuki said happily

_  
  
_

Mr. H then stepped in and quickly shooed away the Reaper and took Neku to his coffee shop where he scolded Neku for what he had seen

_  
  
_

“I can’t believe you did that…I know it was a trick, she made it look like Shiki was spying for the Reapers but now look at what you’ve done! Now you don’t even have a partner!” Mr. H said sternly

_  
  
_

“All of that could’ve been avoided if you had just trusted your partner” Mr. H said hiding his anger

_  
  
_

“Mr. H…you can’t trust people. How was I supposed to know she was lying? It’s not like I knew Shiki” Neku said clasping his shoulder

_  
  
_

“Well how’s she supposed to know you if YOU don’t open up Phones? That’s how you build trust, by opening up to people” Mr. H said trying to keep his cool

_  
  
_

He then gave Neku a pin with a pink star on it

_  
  
_

“Hold onto this it’ll keep you from being erased. This Pin acts as if you made a Pact with Shiki, that’s its Psych. If you hold onto this, it’ll keep you safe” Mr. H said seriously

_  
  
_

“thanks Mr. H” Neku said weakly

_  
  
_

“I don’t want to open up to people ever…it just gets me hurt” he said placing the pin in his pocket

_  
  
_

Mr. H then sighed

 

"I know. I know cruel people can be Phones. Life isn't fair and it makes people suffer, but there are ways to make it better kiddo" the wise Angel added

_  
  
_

“I do what I want, how I want, when I want, I live like CAT” Neku said sternly

_  
  
_

But that was the last straw, for the first time, the real Neku saw Mr. H get angry

_  
  
_

“Living like CAT doesn’t mean you LITERALLY do what you want! You don’t kill someone, CAUSE YOU WANT TO, or steal CAUSE YOU WANT TO! THAT SLOGAN MEANS FOR PEOPLE TO LIVE HAPPILY! IF YOU HAD JUST TRUSTED YOUR PARTNER THAN NONE OF THIS WOULD’VE HAPPENED! YOU SHOULD BE GLAD NO ONE SAW YOU, CAUSE RIGHT NOW YOU’D BE GOING TO JAIL! YOU KILLED SOMEONE NEKU, YOU COMMITTED MURDER!” Mr. H screamed

_  
  
_

“I’m sorry!” the real Neku yelled

_  
  
_

Mr. H then sighed

_  
  
_

“Living like CAT doesn’t mean thinking that everyone will hurt you, there ARE some good people out there. But you’ll never know them unless you search them out” he said sternly

_  
  
  
_

Mr. H then told Neku that he was free to go and to never lose that pin. The UG Joshua then showed the old Neku Beat attacking him as Reaper filled with hate for Shiki’s death. he was very aggressive and would try to slam his skateboard into Neku causing him to use Psychs to defend himself. but this only angered Beat more, he then leaped off of his skateboard and took advantage of the inhuman strength he had as a Reaper.  
  
  
he unleashed devastating blows on Neku punching, kicking and stomping on the frail redhead's back, chest stomach and punching Neku in the face, also knocking Neku's pins away from him, making him completely defenseless. he then lifted Neku by his collar and squeezed it causing Neku to squeeze Beat's arms as he whimpered in pain covered in bruises.  
  
  
"I outta kill you right now for what you did" Beat said darkly getting ready to punch Neku "But you lucky that I ain't that kinda guy yo. I could kill you right now and get revenge for Shiki...but I know she would be mad at me if I sunk that low...  
  
  
he then punched Neku in the face sending him crashing onto the ground  
  
  
  
"I honestly hope you get killed yo. You don't deserve to live again" Beat said as he walked away  
  


After that he then showed him how he got to know him in the second week, how Joshua had become Neku’s first real friend. it was after they completed another mission that Joshua revealed something to Neku  
  
  
"You're not the only one that's been hurt by the world...I know what it's like to be betrayed" Joshua said sadly  
  
  
"What?" Neku said in disbelief   
  
  
"Letting people in gets you hurt Neku, no matter who I tried to befriend the result was the same. I never liked people, not after how all of them just abandoned me...I don't want to let people in either but...I feel like with you...there's an exception" Joshua said crossing his arms  
  
  
"You're...just like me" Neku said weakly  
  
  
After that the images ended.

_  
  
  
_

“Why did you show me all of this?” Neku said weakly

  
  


“To show…what could’ve been different, some of the events that took place could’ve been avoided” Joshua said weakly

  
  


“Now…for my request…I see now that I had given up on the world. That’s why I wanted to destroy Shibuya…I’m sorry for all that I’ve done Neku” Joshua said weakly

  


“What’re you talking about?! You haven’t--

  


Joshua then snapped his fingers fixing the hole in Neku’s memory sending him the final vision of his death making Neku scream as he squeezed his hair feeling his head pounding again.

  


“Nnngh! It…was you?! But why?!” Neku shouted

  


He then lets go of his hair and screamed at Joshua

  


“Why did you kill me?! I…I thought I could trust you! That I finally found a friend I could relate to, but it was YOU! You killed me!” Neku screamed enraged

  


“I know that must trouble considering our quality time together but…I chose you, because of how strong you are…I knew you would be able to help me win my bet…but now…none of that really seems to matter anymore” Joshua said crossing his arms looking down

  


“WHAT?! None of it matters?! Then why did you do this?! why did you kill me?! Damn it Joshua just tell me what you want from me!” a hurt Neku said angrily

  


 

 

Joshua then snapped his fingers on his right hand summoning a gun by Neku’s feet

  


“first pick this up for me” the Composer instructed

  


Neku then looked at Joshua confused. Though hesitant at first looking at the gun for a few seconds, he then picked it up and held the gun by his side. Once he did, Joshua finally told him what he wanted

  


“Kill me” Joshua said sadly

  


Both the real Neku and UG Neku then looked at him in shock

  


“wh-what?” UG Neku barely said

  


Joshua then points the gun at Neku making him gasp

  


“If you don’t…then I’ll kill you and destroy the city. I'll make the entire city of Shibuya become erased.” Joshua said darkly

  


Neku then gasped feeling his eyes begin to burn from building tears and then aimed his gun at Joshua

  


“I want you to kill me…I see now…that I was an awful Composer, I’m asking you…as a friend to please kill me” Joshua said weakly

 

“Joshua! How can you even say that?! I…I can’t! I’m not gonna kill you!” Neku said filled with sadness  
  
  
  
“I’ve done so many awful things Neku, instead of trying to better the world through the Reapers’ Game, I tried to destroy it…to destroy Shibuya. I’ve put you through so much…and I know I could never take it back” Joshua said hanging his head a little

  


Neku then felt his eyes water even more

  


“Joshua…I can’t kill you! I’m not gonna do it!” Neku shouted feeling his arms tremble

  


Joshua then looked up at Neku, and began lowering his gun to his side

  


“Are you sure? You’re passing up on your only chance for revenge for me killing you in Udagawa. Do you really want to let this slide?” he said weakly

  


“I don’t want revenge! I just want to end this game Josh! I don’t want to make anymore mistakes! I‘m not gonna kill you!” Neku screamed

  


Joshua then sighed filled with sadness

  


“I didn’t want to do this” he said sadly

  


Neku then felt his arms tremble even more as he was overwhelmed with sadness, anger, and confusion.

  


He then saw Joshua point the pistol to his head causing Neku to gasp out of shock completely lowering his gun

  


“But…if you won’t do it then--

  


“JOSHUA STOP!” Neku screamed with tears streaming down his face “You don’t have to do this!”

  


Joshua then felt his eyes water knowing what would become of him.

  


“Please Neku…please make Shibuya a better place, be the Composer that I never could. I trust you, I know you can do this. Although I am the Composer of this city, you’ve taught me more about it than I ever would’ve imagined…you taught me, that this city needs to exist, so you and everyone else can expand their world” Joshua said sadly

  


“Don’t” Neku whispered

  


“It’ll be hard at first, and I know it’ll seem a little scary but, I know you can do this. So don’t be afraid Neku…remember? Give up on yourself, and you give up on the world” he said weakly

  


“if you can ever find it in yourself to forgive me…I’d appreciate it if you did. But…I can understand if you never do” he said weakly

  


UG Neku then had tears streaming down his face

  


“I’ve already given up on myself…Shibuya needs someone else to guide the city. Please forgive me…

  


Joshua then cocked the gun

  


“I’m sorry…Neku Sakuraba…I’m glad I met you”

  


He was then frozen Neku felt almost sick to his stomach…as he heard the loud blast of sound from Joshua shooting himself in the head. The Composer then laid lifeless unfreezing Beat and Rhyme as they watched Neku hanging his head and letting his arms dangle as tears fell from his face

  


“No…why…WHY?! Why did you….Joshua I don’t want to be the Composer! I don’t know how to be one! But…I…I didn’t want to lose…another friend!” he screamed squeezing his hair

  
  
As Neku weeped Beat looked at Neku filled with anger

 

  
  
"You got what you deserved yo...all we ever wanted was to help you but all you ever did was push us away Phones. People like you don't deserve to live. I honestly hope you stay dead" Beat said darkly

 

  
  
"Yeah you're just awful Neku...I know not everyone is nice but...you didn't have to push us away" Rhyme said sternly

 

  
  
those words stung both the real and UG Neku making the old Neku cry even more as he looked up at Beat and Rhyme seeing them walk away from him. he then looked back at his dead friend filled with grief  


Joshua’s body then became Composer energy and flew into Neku making him squeeze his hair screaming in pain as the energy burned him. The real Beat stared in shock realizing that this is what he would’ve gone through if he had become the Composer.

  


“he’s…getting the energy inside him…that’s how I would’ve been one? this is...crazy yo” Beat thought terrified

  


Neku screamed filled with agony as the energy burned his skin as it became white, causing Beat and Rhyme to look behind them watching Neku, little by little they saw him transform until a white flash of light appeared. 

 

  
  
Once it faded they all saw Neku as a Death God. He then held out his hand to Beat and Rhyme teleporting them to the RG while simultaneously bringing them back to life

  


The ghost Neku and his friends then saw Beat and Rhyme walking to the Hachiko statue filled with sadness, as they did the new Composer and Mr. H stood on top of the 104 building

  


“it didn’t have to be this way you know” Mr. H said sadly “There’s a lot of things you could’ve done differently”

  


“I can only hope that you’ll be a great Composer and help people expand their world, even if you didn’t do that” Mr. H said sternly

  


“But…I thought that being the Composer I could do whatever I wanted, is it not that simple? I can’t do what I want how I want when I want?” Neku said confused

  


Mr. H then sighed

  


“No…you need to watch over the city as its Composer and bring its citizens to the Higher Plane. Part of doing what you want, how you want, when you want, is enjoying the moment. living life the way you want to…but learning and growing, understanding that that’s what CAT was trying to say” Mr. H said filled with sorrow

  


Neku then gasped

  


“But how would you know that?! You couldn’t know what CAT really means by that unless, the man I respect so much…the man that…I feel like he really understands me is--

  


He then looks to his right to see Mr. H’s orb form

  


“I’m CAT” he said disappointed in Neku

  


“I wish this was different cause…you may see me as the graffiti artist that means a lot to you, the man that you respect so much…but right now…I can’t say the same for you” he said sadly

  


Mr. H’s orb form then flew away along with Neku becoming an Orb also following him the vision then ended there with the real Neku and friends being in the Room of Reckoning again

  


“that’s how this reality came to be” Composer Neku said darkly

  


“Neku?” Shiki said concerned

 

He was extremely pale, an almost sick color to his transparent skin was there and his eyes watered and irises shook as he was thrown into a state of shock

  


“I’m sorry…Mr. H” Neku whispered

  


“I’m sorry Joshua…Shiki, Beat, Rhyme…I

  


“Neku…hey…don’t shut down like this! It wasn’t real remember?” Eri said nervous

  


They then looked up to see gold cracks forming, Neku’s mind was breaking to the point he couldn’t even hold the barrier anymore. Rhyme then gasped seeing three more cracks appear around them. They then saw an outline of gold energy surrounding them being a dome

  


“I’m sorry” Neku whispered again

  


He then felt tears stream down his face and felt his legs give out on him causing him to fall to his knees. He was overwhelmed with heartache, sadness, regret, anger, despair and anxiety over what he had seen. His anxiety worsened to the point he began to breathe choppy.

  


His friends were then filled with even more concern as they saw him tremble with anger as he squeezed his hair, but what was more concerning was that they saw Neku’s energy blast out of him like an out of control fire.

  


His anger and heartache was hurting him to the point all Neku could do was scream to let out his rage. His energy swirled around him causing his friends to have to shield their faces as the fire like energy got near them.

  


His energy became so out of control that his both eyes were empty becoming darkblue and his skin became white outlined in light blue.

  


Joshua then saw more gold cracks becoming concerned knowing that if it broke Neku and his friends would Fade from being within Death God Neku’s presence.

  


As Shiki and friends lowered their arms Shiki ran to Neku

  


“NO! you need to calm down Neku! You’re breaking apart, you’re almost at your second layer of energy!” she screamed running towards him

  


She then went full blast becoming an Angel and hugged him causing the cracks to no longer appear (with there now being seven cracks around them)

  


“Neku it’s okay, I promise it is. This was never real, thanks to you expanding your world you never became this” she said sweetly

  


She then held onto him tighter

  


“Let me in please…I want you to feel better” Shiki said soothingly

  


Neku then felt tears gently drift from his face as the fire like energy went back inside him and his skin returned to being normal again, all that remained was his darkblue glowing eyes. He then closed his eyes and sighed

  


Neku’s friends then all walked up to him

  


“Come on Neku, let’s go back. I think you’ve had enough reality visiting wouldn’t you agree?” Joshua asked with his right hand on his chin

  


“yeah” Neku said weakly

  


Joshua then placed his hand on Neku’s right shoulder and closed his eyes teleporting him and everyone else to the HP Shibuya


	33. The Composer's Wrath

Neku and his friends ended up back in the HP Shibuya near their houses, they were all filled with concern as each one of them asked if Neku was feeling better, especially since he was literally breaking down. They felt unsure whether or not to leave him, for his own safety they wanted to be with him.

 

“Are you sure you’re okay Neku?” Rhyme said sadly

 

She then hanged her head

 

“You…you had me really scared. I don’t want to see you that way ever again. I hate it. You’ve gone through so much but no matter what you’d always find a way out, I just…want you to be happy” she said filled with worry for her brother

 

Neku then smiled and kneeled down to her

 

“Hey, I’m okay Rhyme really…it was just…a lot for me to take in all at once but…

 

He then placed his left hand on her head making her smile

 

“I promise, I really do feel better” he said sweetly

 

Rhyme then giggled and hugged Neku, startling him at first since it was unexpected, but then hugged her back getting the hint…they’re family

 

“No matter what happens, we’ll always have your back. Everyone suffers, but no matter what happens, we'll all be there to help and I‘ll help you too” Rhyme said smiling

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“thanks Rhyme, it’s nice to know that we’re family” Neku said feeling a sense of importance, that he’s needed

 

He then lets go of her and gets up

 

“Damn, you’re never that all…um…affesectionate with me yo, what gives Rhyme?” Beat said smiling, a little jealous of Neku’s hug

 

Rhyme and Neku then giggled

 

“well, Neku’s an only child Beat, he doesn’t know what it’s like to have someone else to talk to in your family other than parents. I just want him to have that, cause he’s our new brother” she said smiling

 

Beat then chuckled

 

“yeah…you’ve helped me out wid my folks yo. We startin’ to get along better, up until that argument before me an’ Rhyme died, they were bein’ more nice to me Phones. They…they’re startin’ to accept me” Beat said smiling

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“man…that’s awesome Beat. I’m glad things are getting better” Neku said happily

 

“heh, come here bro” Beat said pulling Neku to him

 

Neku then laughed as Beat gave him a nuggie again causing Shiki, Eri and Rhyme to all giggle, happy to Neku smiling again.

 

“Heh, they really are Brothers” Joshua thought “they support each other, and are there for each other through good times and bad. Beat’s always had Neku’s back and showed the most concern for him when they were partners…I remember Mr. H mentioning how Neku would become shocked when Beat would drop the tough guy act and give him advice, trying to help, and protect his partner”

 

Beat then lets go of his little brother and they bump fists together

 

“Don’t ever break down like that  again yo. Dat’s my job remember? I’m the one that gets all worked up over stuff, and you’s the one who’s all smart ‘n stuff and thinks things through man” Beat said smiling

 

“Heh heh, thanks bro, and don’t worry I won’t. it was just really hard seeing all of that, the way you all hated me, even Mr. H did…in the end…no one cared about me and how…I killed Shiki in that reality but…I…I didn’t chose to help him, to change Shibuya…I know better than that. Thanks to you guys and Mr. H” Neku said happy

 

They both then chuckled and then let their arms go back down.

 

“Remember you have us too you know” Eri added

 

Neku then turned to Eri and Shiki and smiled

 

“Yeah…I know” he said sweetly

 

Neku then clasped his shoulder feeling a little emotional

 

“You know…I honestly thought I…I would never get this much support. To know that I have all these people that…care…it’s still a little new to me but…I’m glad that…I have this now…

 

Neku then hid his face from everyone feeling a little shy

 

“I’m really glad I met you guys. If it wasn’t for all of you I…would be gone. I actually faced Soul Obstruction…I…I broke down, dissolving into orbs…but all of you…saved me” he said weakly

 

“It’s the least we could do Neku” Shiki said sincerely “We weren’t gonna give up on you, no matter what”

 

Neku then raised his head and smiled

 

“Sometimes I can’t help but wonder why I missed out on all of this before, to know…that there were good people in Shibuya all this time and yet…I never knew. I guess I’m just…glad I’m thankful…that I know you…all of you”  he said sincerely

 

Shiki then giggled

 

“I feel the same way…all of us do, I guess when you expand your world you learn how much those people mean to you huh?” Shiki said bashfully

 

Neku then scratched his head feeling awkward causing Rhyme to giggle along with Eri

 

“I…was just being honest” Neku said weakly

 

“well, it’s good to be honest Neku” Eri said smiling

 

Neku then turned to them again and smiled

 

“yeah, I’d take the truth over lies any day” he said with a smug smile

 

They all smiled and laughed happy to see Neku okay again. After that they all parted ways with Neku noticing that Joshua was still there. He then turns around and looked at Joshua curiously

 

“hey is something up?” Neku asked

 

“Well yeah but…you don’t want to know…it would ruin the mood Neku” Joshua said with his arms crossed

 

Neku then sighed

 

“C’mon Joshua don’t give me that, part of being a friend means that you trust that person right? So…you can trust me Joshua…you can tell me if you feel like crap or not. But if you really don’t want to, that’s okay too” Neku said smiling with left hand upward

 

“Hm?” Joshua said quietly

 

Joshua then placed his hands in his back pockets and smiled chuckling

 

“Hee hee, for a minute there you sounded a lot like Mr. H Neku, especially since he’s the one that was always giving me advice to accept my Proxy” he said smugly

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“I bet he’s really happy Josh…but anyways, just remember that okay? If you ever want to tell me something, just go ahead” Neku said smiling

 

He then waved a little and walked back to his house letting the Composer have time to think

 

“See ya later Joshua” Neku said walking away

 

Joshua then crossed his arms deep in thought

 

“Should I…really tell him? Neku…he…he needs to mentally rest so to speak, he needs to relax after his break down from earlier but at the same time…that reality also brought back a lot of things I use to think about before I knew Mr. H” Joshua thought

 

“I guess, I shouldn’t ignore that thought any longer” Joshua mumbled

 

“Neku” Joshua said weakly

 

Neku then turned to his friend

 

“yeah?” he replied

 

“There’s something you need to know” Joshua said darkly

 

He then began to walk away from Neku wandering the city

 

“Joshua?” Neku said weakly

 

He then glided over to the Composer and then landed on the ground walking beside him.

 

“I thought about many things as you and I watched what happened in that reality, it made me remember something I planned on doing before I understood more about being the Composer and the Reapers’ Game. It was also before I knew Sanae, back when I was just starting to know him” Joshua said darkly

 

“Something…before you understood what it meant to be the Composer? Well…what was it?” Neku asked a little nervous

 

“Well, back when I had just become the Composer, I was I still felt annoyed by people, but it was much more intense. I saw them as mere sacks of skin that wasted space…and needed to be destroyed” Joshua said hanging his head a little as they walked

 

Hearing such an awful thing made Neku gasp

 

“So it’s because of that” he continued “That I planned on destroying not just Shibuya, but the whole world. But before that, I would start with this everywhere else on earth and then city because of how much it annoyed me…

 

Joshua then snapped his fingers teleporting him and Neku to the Composer district, walked a few feet away from Neku and went full blast, making Neku’s Angel aura appear to protect him. Joshua then held his right hand out towards the ground creating a miniature version of the city.

 

“Let’s say this is Shibuya” Joshua said darkly in his true Composer voice

 

“This is what I would’ve done”  Joshua said charging lightning in his pointer finger

 

He then fired it down towards the mini version causing Neku’s eyes to widen as he heard people scream, after doing this five times he then snapped his fingers and created an illusion of the city for Neku to see.

 

The lightning struck the buildings and people screamed in terror. Buildings fell like dominoes as they all collided into each other.

 

As the chaos continued Neku then saw what looked like a news report on the Q Floor building. He was filled with terror as he saw what looked like all of Tokyo burning

 

“No…stop it…Joshua stop!” Neku screamed

 

“I want you to get the whole picture” Joshua said darkly reverting to his human form

 

They then saw the old Joshua, the Joshua who hated everyone with no friends, no one he could trust due to not knowing Mr. H well enough.

 

“Let Death cleanse this world” The Death God snarled

 

He then fired a dome of energy spreading all around the world before spreading to Tokyo, and Neku then witnessed all of Japan burning a silver colored fire on Q Floor causing him to look in shock until he saw the Composer let out a lion like roar as he unleashes a powerful blast of his whitish gray energy, to blow up Shibuya, killing himself at the same time.  
  
 The earth was then zoomed out for Neku to see every continent burning, seeing how the supernatural Composer fire made all the Earth's water evaporate too, making the earth just a dull rock in space, wiping out the human race.

 

Neku wanted to scream, filled with terror for what he had seen but he was speechless, thrown into shock.

 

“ _this_  is what I wanted my judgment to be Neku, back before I understood more about the UG, The Reapers' Game and being the Composer. Back before, I thought I could change” Joshua said darkly

 

He then snapped his fingers ending the vision making them simultaneously go back to the HP Shibuya

 

“But what about guiding humans?! Helping them live better lives?!” Neku roared shaking his fist

 

Joshua then crossed his arms

 

“This is what I wanted…before Mr. H helped me…before my hate and anger was subdued, if anything…my friendship with him was what spared humanity. But I still found humans annoying, and yet…even though I still hated them…I had a friend…I knew someone that showed me that not all people are bad, he was my friend, then there was you, and how you changed in the Reapers' Game, and it made me wonder if the same thing could be said for everyone else Neku” Joshua said weakly

 

“Mr. H and I?…he helped you see that?” Neku said in shock

 

“Yeah, it’s because of this that I reduced my Judgment to only targeting Shibuya. Deep down though, I wanted to just destroy Shibuya the most” Joshua explained

 

 

 

Neku then hid his face in his collar and hid his hands in his pockets

 

“Why are you telling me this?” Neku said weakly

 

Joshua then lightened up and chuckled with his hands in his back pockets

 

“You mean it isn’t obvious Neku? That reality we were in brought up these thoughts I remember having. It made me think about my sense of Judgment as a Death God…and sometimes I honestly think that it really was affected by you and your friends. Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if it was a good thing” Joshua said with a smug smile

 

Neku then looked up at Joshua confused

 

“I thought about whether or not to save you when you were The Demon Lord and…I remember seeing your friends try so hard to save you…and how in the end, I fought alongside them helping them save you. It also made me think about why I couldn’t kill you in the Angels’ Game or in your trial” Joshua said hanging his head a little

 

“I guess, what I’m trying to say is…is that the more that I think about it, the more I realize how close I was to destroying the world, or rather, trying too. I know the Higher Ups wouldn't allow it. Sometimes…I find a lot of enjoyment in my job Neku, and as you know I can be rather morbid. But because of this I…I sometimes wonder if I feel a connection to Death, Neku, where I want to see people suffer and become hostile. I mean I  _did_ plan on tryin to kill you in Udagawa, and executed my plan of commiting murder. I know that's not something a sane person would do” Joshua admitted

 

Neku then gasped seeing a connection

 

“Wait a minute so…those…urges you’d get in the UG…like how you would talk to me like you knew something I didn’t so you could mess with my head, the fact that you planned out my death, the way you described how you wanted to go to the Composer with guns blazing…even if that was a lie…that was you…becoming like Death?” Neku said shocked

 

“I’m not sure, I don't think they were. but…what I do know is, if I never had Mr. H as my friend, if I had never learned that I could trust him…and trust you, sometimes…I think I would’ve ended up like him” Joshua said weakly

 

“Huh? What do you mean Joshua? What happened to him, you know, Death?” Neku said a little nervous

 

“well…as you know, Death Gods exist to create order, to preserve the world of the living and dead. But…over time, as the original Death Angel killed humans, slashing them with his scythe to free the energy within them,  he began to find joy in that method of setting souls free” Joshua explained 

 

“He began to see his job as a way to unleash his hostility upon humans rather than to end their life and free their souls, the way it’s supposed to be. It’s because of this, that sometimes the Higher Ups warn me to control my powers as a god…or else…I may become the most dangerous God of Death in the Higher Plane. That I would become as hostile…as Death himself. Even if I became a Composer in the UG, all Composers, whether it's there, or in the Higher Plane, share a connection to the Angel of Death due to how we are right behind an Angel's power.” Joshua said darkly

 

Neku then became pale felt his eyes widen

 

“He’s…that close to Death…so…in my Death God form…am I like that too?” Neku thought

 

“Do you understand why I told you this Neku?” Joshua asked placing his hand on his chin

 

He looked at Neku curiously wondering if Neku was taking everything in

 

“It’s because of you all…showing me that there are people out there worth protecting…that my judgment has changed that I…am able to control those impulses better. I now have a sense of value towards them, that they're worth protecting too. It was all…thanks to you guys, my friends” Joshua said smiling a little

 

Neku then hid his face again, took a deep breath and looked back up at Joshua

 

“heh heh, you know…I honestly thought you’d never say that to me. I'm glad you're able to see that they like you too. that they’re not just my friends Joshua…that they’re your friends too” Neku said smiling

 

Joshua then chuckled

 

“It's taken a while, but I do see it that way. I know it's a little odd but I know now that they really do accept me” Joshua mumbled “thanks...for listening"

 

“Don’t mention it” Neku said glad that Joshua at least cared about his friends

 

“Hey um…after we all do our own thing for a while, do you want to try that again? Going to other realities?” Neku asked

 

“I don’t know, I mean the last one damaged your mind so severely that you began to break apart Neku. You know how dangerous that is” Joshua said crossing his arms

 

“but…at the same time I’ve noticed a pattern in the alternate realities. For every good, or upbeat one we found, there’d be a more gruesome one that follows it. If we keep that in mind then, the next one we visit should be a good one” Joshua said with his hands in his pockets smiling

 

“Yeah…that way nothing bad will happen the next time we go to one, so…what do think?” Neku said crossing his arms

 

Joshua then flicked his hair with his left hand

 

“Well, I suppose we could try it again, and no doubt our friends will want to come too. So I’ll go bring more humans to the Higher Plane and you can just do whatever you want until then” Joshua replied

 

“alright, I’ll let you know when we’re on our way” Neku added

 

“sounds like a plan” Joshua said back

 

He then chuckled at Neku feeling a little happy and then went back to his district. after that Neku went to his house and entered his room thinking about what Joshua told him.  He laid on his bed and looked up at the ceiling still a little in disbelief over what Joshua had revealed to him

 

“ _sometimes the Higher Ups warn me to control my powers as a god…or else…I may become the most dangerous God of Death in the Higher Plane…that I would become as hostile…as Death himself. Even if I became a Composer in the UG, all Composers, whether it's there or in the Higher Plane, share a connection to the Angel of Death due to how we are right behind an Angel's power.”_

 

“Is it really true? That he’s kept his composure all this time thanks to me…and my friends? If Joshua had remained alone, never learning that he could trust people, never meeting Mr. H and learning about the Game…would he really have destroyed the world?” Neku thought concerned

 

  
  
“I guess…it is, he showed me his plan…how he targeted not just Shibuya, or just Tokyo…not even just Japan, but…the world itself. This is crazy! But...I know the Higher Ups wouldn't have allowed that. If he got out of line I know they would've stopped him but...still” Neku thought again still trying to take everything in

 

Thoughts continued to race in Neku’s head as he laid on his bed with his eyes closed focusing on the last reality he visited with his friends.

 

“Was I…was I really that close to having everyone give up on me? It all happened so fast…like some sort of nightmare. It was just like how the Reapers’ Game went from being a dream for me…to being something I just knew I had to end. I couldn’t take it anymore! That vision the other Joshua showed the other me…I was almost killed by Beat. Heh…I’m so fragile compared to him…it would be like breaking a toothpick. In the end, I lost everything…even CAT hated me…I--

 

Neku then opened his eyes and saw his room grow a little darker, being so deep in his thoughts. Neku gasped out of fear as he sat up on his bed unaware that he entered his mind seeing his reflection in his mirror as his Demon Lord form again

  
  


“Whoa take it easy, you’re starting to worry me” the reflection said

 

After seeing his demon reflection smile a little, Neku felt more at ease and walked up to it

 

“I could sense you were in pain, you were breaking apart making your energy leak out and burn like fire…it was hurting me too you know” the fake Damien said weakly

 

“Huh? You could sense that?” Neku said confused

 

“Yup. Apparently with you getting stronger and getting more control over the demon energy caused it to have more of a connection to you. Good thing Shiki made it stop” demon core Damien explained

 

Neku then scratched his head a little embarrassed

 

“Yeah…she’s…really good at that, she just…knows how to help me feel better when I feel like crap” Neku said bashfully

 

Neku then hanged his head a little

 

“I don't know what happened. it just was too much. I couldn't take it” Neku said weakly  
  


“I know there’s something else bothering you, you don’t have to tell me though if you don’t want to” Neku’s inner-self added

 

Neku then looked at his reflection and then hanged his head

  
  
"I know that this is a lot to take in, that your demon energy is part of you to the point it becomes your reflection. but you can always tell me” refection Damien said smiling

 

 

They both then chuckled and the fake Damien noticed Neku had become more serious causing his reflection to do the same.

 

“It’s that other reality again isn’t it?” Damien said weakly

 

“yeah…it just…was too much for me, seeing all of that at once. To know how close I was…to losing so much” Neku said hanging his head

 

 

 

“To have them hate me…all of ‘em. Beat, Mr. H, even someone with such a sweet, kind personality…like Rhyme…she hated me too. In the end…even Joshua…who was my only friend in that world…left me…he took his own life away. In the end I…I was alone” Neku said filled with grief

 

fake Damien then hanged his head too

 

“It’s no wonder that you broke down to the point I could feel your energy leaking again. Don’t tell me there’s more right?” the reflection said sadly

 

“there is” Neku said darkly

 

“In that reality, the other Joshua showed the…other me visions of the Reapers’ Game, showing me…er…the UG me what could’ve been different. I…I saw myself…kill…Shiki. The funny thing is…Even now, I still have no idea how I did that. Everything happened so fast! I just…I knew…or at least…thought I knew…that I had to kill her! If I didn’t then Uzuki…would’ve killed me!” Neku roared

 

He then squeezed his hair cringing as he flashed back to that moment in the other reality

 

“I had to…I felt my heart racing, like it was about to burst out of my chest…it was pounding. I still couldn’t believe what I was about to do…I didn’t even want to see it. So I covered my eyes with my bangs but…then the next thing I knew I was suspending Shiki in the air and…since Psychokinesis pins are the only ones that can be used outside of a combat zone then…I was using Telekinesis to levitate her in the air but…then those orbs in my hand…in that reality they fused together and blasted a hole in Shiki’s chest! I KILLED HER!” he screamed

 

“I…I know I’ve levitated cars and other objects at the Noise before but…still…I don’t even remember what pin I used to do that to Shiki cause I’ve never been able to choke the Noise before” Neku said lowering his hands back to his side

 

“If I hadn’t had expanded my world…if I…had killed Shiki…then everyone would’ve hated me…in that one moment…I…I was so close to making that reality come true. I even helped the Conductor make a Paradise in that reality…I was going to take Beat and Rhyme’s free will away. I was really that close…to losing everything”

 

As Neku then hanged his head after saying that, reflection Damien looked up at Neku and sighed

 

“But it’s over now Neku…you don’t need to let that hurt you anymore, you know that right?” Damien said sadly

 

 

“I know…it was just…hard for me to see all of that. Sometimes I wonder what my life would’ve been like if I had never known them…if I had gone the rest of my life blocking out the world…and that reality just gave me a taste of it. But…I’m just glad it’s over. I know who I am and…I’ve got friends now…heh heh, sometimes I still can’t get over that fact…the fact that I can say…that I have friends” Neku said looking up at Damien smiling a little

 

His reflection then smiled a little too thought not exposing his teeth

 

“As a type of energy that’s bound to negative emotions…I know personally how that feels…and I understand that pain very well, after all, I am you. And I know the impact from your past is still apart of your mind, but it no longer hurts you" he explained

  
"But even if that's true, I know that’s not who you are anymore. People care about you, and are willing to protect you…it’s something that I hope you'll always have” reflection  Damien added

 

“Heh, yeah me too. they're all so amazing. I'm glad they're apart of my world now” Neku said happily

 

 

After that, there was a bit of silence between the two as Neku thought some more before breaking the silence

 

“Hey,” Neku said weakly “Do you ever think…that I’ll…slip back?”

 

“What? How can you say that?” fake Damien said shocked

 

“It’s just…sometimes…when I’m alone like this in the RG, just in my room away from everyone including my parents…sometimes that solitude brings back certain thoughts I used to have…I mean it’s only been three months and a half since I was able to just…let myself go…leaving behind my headphones…and being with my friends for the first time. It’s all so new to me” Neku said hanging his head hiding his face again

 

 

“I know what you mean…it’s new for me too, knowing that your friends all accept me now, and knowing that I could change…but that’s what helped you right? Change…going through something completely beyond your control, and yet…that very same situation gave you the friends you have now” Damien replied

 

“They have an amazing sense of loyalty I can sense it Neku. They’re always wondering about you…if you’re okay, they just want you to be happy, to see you smile. Such kindness in humans…I honestly think that the fact that their very existence was merged with yours that…that’s what made such a powerful connection between them Neku. You have a link with them that is impossible to achieve in the RG” the reflection said sincerely

 

Neku then raised his head again and smiled

 

“heh heh, you’re right…I…I could sense when they were in pain…and it was almost like we shared the same health or something 'cause often times when the Noise would weaken me, I could sense that sometimes my Partner was in the same amount of pain and, on top of that, I literally had to trust them with my life” Neku said smiling

 

“If it wasn’t for Beat then…I would’ve been erased a long time ago. He even helped me when I had to play the Reapers' Game on Hard Mode” he added

 

Neku's demon form then nodded his head

 

“You see? They’ve all been there for you. So I know they won’t let you slip back, and I’m here too. I am you, so I know what you’re feeling. You don’t need to carry all your burdens on your own. You can let other people in remember? So do that and I know you’ll never slip back” demon energy Damien said wisely

 

“thanks Damien... er... me? I guess” Neku said weakly

 

“Don’t mention it” Damien said smiling

 

After that Neku closed his eyes and opened them leaving his mind

Neku then lets out a sigh of relief knowing that his demon form and demon energy really was apart of him and left his room. He walked to the entrance of his house, got his shoes on and walked around Shibuya to get some fresh air, lowering his vibe frequency to that of a normal spirit. As he walked around the city Neku headed to Udagawa’s back streets to the tag mural.

 

“I know I’ll have them forever…I don’t have to worry about growing up thanks to being dead. Maybe, in a way…death isn’t such a bad thing after all” he thought

 

As Neku climbed up the stairs that lead to the back streets he then smiled as he saw the tag mural from a distance and walked up to it, before he knew it he stood right in front of the mural admiring Mr. H’s graffiti

 

“CAT” Neku thought smiling

 

He then extends his right hand and placed on the mural. Neku just couldn’t help but smile happy that he had his friends, that he was safe, and that all this time, he had a Guardian Angel watching over him, making him happy through his graffiti, even before the Reapers’ Game, CAT’s graffiti was there for him.

 

“I still can’t get over how he’s…an Angel. Heh, that’s so cool, maybe it was his Angel energy that made me so drawn to Mr. Hanekoma…I just…wanted to talk to him, even back then in the UG” Neku thought happily

 

Mr. H couldn’t help but smile as he heard Neku’s thoughts, watching over him through his portal in the Composer District

 

“I’ll always have them, thanks to you…helping me expand my world, like all your artwork just screamed: Enjoy life…Thank you…CAT. I know now I wouldn’t be who I am now without you” Neku said out loud wondering if Mr. H could hear him

 

He then smiled at the Ghost Cat and mumbled one of the command codes Mr. H placed in the graffiti

 

“Enjoy the moment more” he said softly

 

Neku then leaped into the air and closed his eyes generating Angel wings as he flew back to his apartment again

 

“This peace that I feel, is this Sanae’s energy again?” Neku thought as he flew

 

“it’s funny…even when he’s not here, he’s always there guiding me and protecting me. Just like how his energy protected me against Kurushii and Anthony”

 

With that thought, he then arrived at his home where he proposed his idea he had discussed with Joshua to Shiki and Eri telepathically who was hanging out with Shiki at her apartment at the time


	34. The Monster's Resolve

As they discussed what he and Joshua had planned Shiki and Eri showed a lot of concern for Neku. After all, they only want him to be happy and felt discouraged about going to other realities again, but at the same time, Neku showed so much confidence, he felt sure that he could handle trying that again. It was because of this that they started to agree with Neku.

 

“You really wanna do this? I mean you know how much that other reality harmed you Neku” Eri said sadly

 

“And…we wouldn’t want that to happen again, you really scared us” Shiki said weakly

 

Neku then clasped his shoulder understanding their worry

 

“Believe me, I get it. I understand why you guys are concerned but…I feel like I can handle it this time. Those alternate realities have a sort of pattern to them, there’s a good one, then a bad one that follows. If we keep that in mind and skip over the bad realities then everything should be okay right? Besides, you gotta admit seeing other versions of ourselves was pretty interesting” Neku said trying to persuade them

 

Shiki and Eri then smiled at each other

 

“Well that’s true, it was kinda cool seeing ourselves” Shiki added

 

“Plus if you feel okay with it, then…I guess we can try that again right?” Eri said smiling

 

Neku then turned to them and smiled

 

“Yeah, so…when do you guys wanna head out? We can do that anytime, so whatever time you want to go is fine” Neku said smiling with his left hand upward

 

The girls then giggled happy to see Neku fully recovered from his break down in the other reality.

 

“Okay, I guess then we could go now…that is, if you don’t mind” Eri said happily

 

“Plus we just got another design done so we were just watching TV just now” Shiki added

 

“Alright cool, let’s get Beat and Rhyme” Neku said smiling

 

 

 

The teens then fly to Beat and Rhyme’s house and ask them if they want to come along too. Happy to see Neku so sure of himself, they decide to join him too. Then after that they all teleport to the Composer district.

 

They all walked around the district wondering where Joshua was, when they spotted him bringing humans to the after life. However at the same time they noticed Mr.  H was missing again.

 

As they approached Joshua their Angel auras appeared to protect them, making Neku smile at how Mr. H was always there to protect him through the energy.

 

“Hey Joshua, I talked it over with everyone and they all wanna try this again with me, Are you too busy right now?” Neku asked

 

The death god then held out his hand closing his portal and turned to Neku and friends

 

“Well, now I’m not. You’re lucky that there are so many Gods of Death here besides me, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to have such a flexible schedule” Joshua said smiling at them

 

He then snapped his fingers becoming his human form

 

“I see Mr. H’s energy is shielding you all from the presence of my true form more frequently. Good, it shows that you all have a stronger connection to the energy, and therefore, have a connection to Mr. H” Joshua said twirling his hair

 

“Whoa…seriously?” Rhyme said in shock

 

“Of course, his energy has been stored within all of you for a while…I suppose that Angel aura is the only way you all could be around the real me and not dissolve into orbs” Joshua explained

 

“Heh heh, so in other words, he’s protecting us” Neku said smiling

 

“Exactly” Joshua replied

 

Neku then looked down at his hands smiling as he saw the white aura dissolve

 

“So you’re all set?” Joshua asked with his hands in his front pockets

 

“yeah” Neku replied

 

He then did the same procedure as last time and they all teleported to the other alternate reality, and luckily for them, Neku and Joshua’s theory was right. The next reality they visited, though strange, was a good reality.

 

“whoa what’s up with this place?” Neku said shocked

 

“yeah it looks like people but…everyone’s being walked by animals?!” Rhyme said startled

 

They saw dogs, cats, and other animals all walking humans, a roll reversal of their home.

 

“BWAAAAAH!” Beat roared “this is so weird yo!”

 

Eri then gasped startled to see what looked like her grandmother’s cat here in this reality too

 

“Huh?! Wait that’s Asami! But…she died at sixteen years old!” Eri cried

 

“Hee hee, apparently in this world even animals that have died in the RG are alive here. A pretty interesting concept if you think about it” Joshua said with his hand on his chin

 

“Yeah although it is kinda weird at the same time” Eri replied

 

Joshua then chuckled

 

“I guess” Joshua said smugly

 

They then walked around the animal city version of Shibuya and saw that mail men were birds, some even parrots. It was all so strange to them, they spent what must’ve been nearly an entire day and they all smiled and laughed at how odd this world really was.

 

Wanting to see something new Neku and his friends went to another reality knowing full well that according to the pattern this would be a bad one, causing them to be on their guard ready to skip this reality.

 

It was their fashion trend loving home again, but there was a thick air to it causing Neku to sense that something was here.

 

“guys, you feel that too right?” Neku said to his friends sternly

 

“Yeah…there’s something here…I can feel a sort of heaviness here” Shiki replied

 

Knowing that this reality could be potentially dangerous, Neku knew he couldn’t stay here, and could never cope with himself if his friends were killed because of him.

 

They walked around the area cautious as they observed this ghost town resembling version of the city. It was so quiet that the only sound they could hear was their own foot steps. Neku then stood in place ready to leave, something about this place made him uneasy, and he didn’t want to find out what was making him feel this way.

 

“Guys, let’s go on…I don’t think we should stay here anymore. This place…it….doesn’t feel right” Neku said with his hands in his pockets

 

“Yeah, this place was giving me the creeps” Eri said weakly

 

Neku then closed his eyes and placed his hands on his head ready to focus to teleport him and everyone else away from this, empty Shibuya when Neku felt a sharp jolt in his head again.

 

“Nnngh! What? Why do I--

 

“Neku what’s going on?!” Shiki cried as she ran to him with Mr. Mew on her shoulder

 

“Nnngh! I…I don’t know! I just felt something…the energy…it feels like…him…but…he can’t…Nnngh! He…can’t be here! I beat him--

 

“Oh what’s wrong Neku? Don’t tell me you haven’t figured it out?” a familiar voice said

 

Neku’s friends then all became wide-eyed at the sound of that voice

 

“no…he can’t be here!” Rhyme thought

 

They then saw what looked like black smoke take on the form of Kurushii, then Anthony, and then other forms of smoke appeared all taking on familiar faces. At that moment Anthony then snapped his fingers freezing all of Neku’s friends in place while simultaneously teleporting Neku to him

 

As much as it hurt, Neku manages to open his left eye and see his most recently killed enemy.

 

“Anthony?” Neku said weakly

 

The demon then snapped his fingers removing his presence

 

“That’s right. In this reality, all of the demons you’ve killed are alive here, it’s as if…we never faded into orbs” Anthony said darkly

 

Neku then gasped as he and his friends all saw former enemies before them.

 

“Kurushii, Clarissa, Anthony, Izawa, Cedric and…even the Scouters and Heathens…they’re all here?!” Neku thought nervously

 

Sensing how nervous Neku was becoming, his Rhyme called out to him

 

“Neku?…Neku! Hey, snap out of it! We can’t stay here!” Rhyme said sternly

 

“Oh what leaving so soon? We haven’t even really gotten to know each other...Damien” Anthony said teasingly to Neku

 

Neku then lets out a low growl

 

“I also find it rather odd how your demon energy isn't as hostile anymore and that it's not controlling you like it usually did. What’s with this sudden change of heart in the energy? Do you not desire to let it control you anymore?” Anthony said with an evil smile

 

Neku then shook his fist enraged at Anthony

  
  
“Rrrgh! Cut the crap! It isn’t like that anymore! I'm not a being of Sorrow anymore! I'm not the Demon Lord anymore! Damien is just another name for me, my Demon form, even if it is a demon…I know I can control it! I've changed! So leave my Demon form out of this!” Neku shouted

 

“Besides, now you have a family again, now you have your sister again! So now you don’t have to target me anymore!” Neku added shaking his fist

 

“Although that is true, you’re the one, who killed me…so now that I live in this reality, it only seems fair for me to kill you” Anthony said darkly

 

Clarissa then giggled

 

“And I really have enjoyed our time together Neku, I really did miss you” she said slyly

 

Neku then looks around seeing all of his enemies from the afterlife

 

“I can’t take these guys…not like this. My only chance would be using my God energy…and I can only use that in short bursts so…I…I gotta make a run for it!” Neku thought

 

Neku then began to back away heading towards his friends, as he did Neku then slowly began to turn away from Anthony and ran towards his friends, he then teleported his friends, simultaneously teleporting to the to the barrier of God energy knowing that it would protect him from Anthony.

 

“Neku!” Shiki shouted “Are you okay?!”

 

“Yeah…but…that was close” Neku said weakly

 

“Tell me about it" Eri added "but now’s our chance too--

 

Before Eri could even finish her sentence all of Neku’s friends looked in horror seeing what looked like darkblue mist flowing out of Neku’s chest while simultaneously feeling like something was moving him, like he was being forced to turn around, and start walking towards Anthony.

 

“No…how’s he…wait…the energy leaking out of Neku…it has to be--

 

“Neku!” Joshua shouted “As soon as you get some distance from us, you have to use your God form, I know you didn’t want to fight them, but there are Soul Stealers here too. One of them is using your energy to control your movements, like a puppet”

 

“Nnngh! Joshua…I…I can’t…that form will kill me! I--

 

Before he could even finish that sentence, Kurushii, teleported Neku to him suspending him into the air with his right hand as he squeezed Neku’s funnel collar electrocuting him with demon energy making him scream in pain. Clarissa, Cedric, Anthony and Izawa all walked towards the helpless Fledgling with evil smiles.

 

Then Anthony snapped his fingers revealing what looked like an entire army of Soul Stealers, being nearly at 100 of them in total.

 

Seeing what was going to befall him, Neku knew now what he had to do.

 

he locked his jaw to stop himself from screaming and focused on the demon energy unleashing it as a dome blasting everyone away from him. Once the energy dissolved Neku’s friends saw him on his hands and knees wearing his Demon Lord outfit once again.

 

He then stood up on the ground with a smug smile

 

“It’s been a while since I wore this” Neku said darkly

 

“I’m gonna have to use my demon energy again, it’s been a while since I did this but, I've got this. Trust your partner, and I do, I trust my partners with my life…helping me survive…now…I have to count on my demon energy to do the same thing” Neku said in his head with his eyes closed and hands in his pockets

 

He then opened his eyes and his irises became red and pupiless again

 

Neku then grew demon skin with the last part being his hair turning pitch black, with a blue tint to it.

 

“I didn‘t want it to come to this…but I guess the only way out of here is to fight them…I can‘t use my God form…not for too long. Trust your energy...Damien is…just another name for me, my demon form.I made those Mr. H resembling clothes to distance myself from when I was the Demon Lord but...there's no denying it, I AM the former Demon Lord. I can control this...but right now, I may have to act more like them and use that hostility to my advantage. I‘ve got this" he thought feeling sure of himself as he walked towards the demons

  
Neku then stopped and closed his eyes and took a deep breath and then smiled and addressed the other demons

 

“You know, it’s been a while since I’ve used this form, being the Former Demon Lord again it‘ll be interesting to see how this turns out. Especially since now, I can see what I can do with my new demon energy” Damien said with an evil smile

 

“I have to take the blows the best that I can. I can’t use my God form for too long. I’ll try to make this quick so we can leave” Damien thought

 

He then charged up to the demons causing them to charge up to Damien, he then leaped into the air and fired his demon energy at them and then teleported to the Scouters,Heathens and Cedric slashing all of them with his claws causing them to scream in pain. this then caused Damien to have a smug smile as he slashed them some more.

  
  
  
"You're good as gone" Neku thought

Damien then teleported into the air and charged up an orb in his hand, made of red Demon energy and extended his fingers making it increase in size. Damien then snarled as he blasted an orb the size of a boulder at them making them all scream as they dissolved into orbs with the exception of Cedric and Kurushii, who teleported to Anthony at the last minute.

 

“Well, that was rather hostile considering how they were your security back then you know” Clarissa said smiling “Still as violent as ever I see”

 

Damien then lets out a low growl

 

“I’m not like that anymore” he said darkly

 

Clarissa then went to her demon form making, Beat, Rhyme and Eri look in shock due to them never seeing her like that before. She then pounced at Damien alongside her brother, Cedric and his Soul Stealers. Damien being a worthy opponent for Clarissa dodged all her swipes and slashed her in the face.   
  
  
she then retaliates by shooting demon energy at him causing him to block it. Clarissa then tries to slash Neku again causing him to dodge the attacks. he then attempts to swipe back at her causing her to dodge the attack. She then charges demon energy behind her and flies towards Neku, makes the energy dissolve and attempts to kick him as she flew towards him, making Neku dissolve into demon smoke and teleport away from her  
  
  
He then roundhouse kicked her in the stomach sending her flying.as she rolled onto the ground, Kurushii, Anthony and his servants covered for her. They all viciously slashed Damien over and over causing him to scream in pain and his clothes to become torn.

 

The former Demon Lord then roared as he unleashed a blast of energy sending everyone flying again making Kurushii disappear. Once Clarissa and her brother got up she then smiled at him.

 

“Anthony would you be willing to give me some quality time with Damien? After all, I  _am_  the one who made him who he is now. Why Neku would’ve never have even broke free, and remain being a Demon Lord if everything went according to plan” she said teasingly

 

Hearing such a remark made Damien snarl

 

“heh, of course, I know how much fun you had messing with Neku. So it only seems fair that you spend time with him again” Anthony said smiling

 

Clarissa then walked towards Neku’s full demon form and smiled

 

“Why Neku, I can sense your even stronger now as a Demon. How does that feel? Do you like that power?” she said trying to mess with him

 

“Rrrgh! Shut up! I’m not like that now! I don't use the energy to hurt people!” Damien snarled

 

“Heh, don’t bother denying it Neku, you know that you like the hostility demon energy fills you with. Even if you have full control over that form, you know you miss it, the power, the blood lust, you know you want that sensation again” Clarissa said darkly

 

Neku then hanged his head and balled up his hands into fists

 

“You still remember it don’t you? When you nearly killed your friends? Even though they all tried so hard to save you…in the end you were relentless” Clarissa said smiling

 

Neku then flashed back to when he nearly killed them and how they all screamed in pain

 

“I…I’m not like that! I wouldn't hurt them again!” Neku screamed

 

“Oh don’t kid yourself Neku…you loved it remember? You were trapped in your mind and were letting me fill you with demon energy, MY energy. You wanted it…you NEEDED it. Deny it all you want, say that you have control over yourself again, but you know I’m right. I know you Neku. And I know that deep down you WANT to lose control again, it was a rush…something you crave again” she said slyly

 

“Shut up!” Neku snarled shaking his fist

 

“Why so defensive all of a sudden Neku?” Clarissa said teasingly

 

Neku then squeezed his hair becoming filled with frustration

 

“No I…I’m not like that” Neku said to himself

 

“Just accept it” Clarissa persisted

 

“No…stop” Neku said out loud

 

“Don’t deny it any longer Neku” she said sweetly

 

Neku then squeezed his hair even tighter

 

“I…I don’t want to be that again!” Neku roared

 

“You’re lying to yourself” Clarissa said walking towards him

  
  
  
"Stop it!" Neku roared enraged 

 

  
  
"You want to go back" Clarissa said slyly  
  


 

 

“You need this energy Neku, infact, the only reason that you’re even here is because of Shiki. If she hadn’t had found you, then you would be Damien again…and you want that don’t you?” she said smiling at how she saw him snarl

 

 

“You need us Neku…me and my brother…you are more like us” she said softly

 

 

She then stood right in front of Neku and gently pulled his hands away from his hair causing him to look at her in shock

 

 

“You need me Neku…

 

 

She said sweetly

 

  
she then pulled him close and wrapped her arms around Neku hugging him, resting her head on his left shoulder

 

  
"you want me" she said softly into his ear messing with him even more  
  


 

 

She then pulls him away a little with Neku being a few inches from her face, close enough to kiss and played with his hair, gently running her fingers through it with her right hand and then rubbed her fingers around Neku's ear, making cringe and snarl at her followed by kissing his neck making him look at her in shock and then brushed the same hand right hand against his cheek

 

 

“You miss me, you want to go back” she said softly

 

 

“I…I need demon energy? I…no…I don’t want to go back but…I--

 

  
  
  
Neku then closed his eyes to try to block out Clarissa  
  


 

 

"STOP!" Neku thought "I'M NOT gonna become that again!"

 

  
  
He then opened his eyes and screamed 

 

  
"LIKE HELL I DOOOOO!"

 

 

Neku then looked at Clarissa furiously and squeezed her hand electrocuting her, blasting her away from him.

 

“He did it! all on his own!" Shiki thought happily

 

 

He then went to his true form, his Staccato form and the Demon Mistress went to her Virtuoso form. They then zigzagged across the sky with Neku sending her flying again as he slashed her in the face.

 

  
Anthony then dove towards Neku and became his Smorzando form and fired his demon smoke at Neku making him scream in pain as he crashed to the ground returning to his demon form landing face first on the ground. When he finally laid on the floor Neku panted out of breath laying on his hands and knees and snapped his fingers wearing his Mr. H resembling clothes.

 

  
  
"Now I'll try using my fighting style" Neku thought

 

  
although in pain from the demon smoke, Neku teleported to Anthony and slashed him dozens of times desperate to hurt the Smorzando form with Staccato energy engulfing his hands.Seeing how he was struggling, Neku then unleashed a blast of sound by screaming causing Anthony to go flying back. Neku then placed his hands on his head concentrating and then taps his foot sending shock waves to the beat he tapped causing Anthony to get slashes on his body

 

  
He then gets up and slashes Neku over and over causing Neku to slash him back. But as he tried to slash Anthony he blasted Smorzando energy at Neku causing him to go crashing against the ground.

 

  
As he laid their, Kurushii then appeared and him and Izawa, Cedric and Clarissa then began firing their energy at Neku making him scream in pain and blasted him further away from them.

 

 

He then got back up and fired his demon energy at Anthony and everyone else which made him blast a shock wave at Neku making him get blasted away from Anthony before reverting back to his normal self

 

“No” Eri thought terrified

 

 

As Neku got to his feet he saw Anthony’s true form, Izawa and the Soul Stealers all walking towards him in the distance. He then closed his eyes and opened them becoming his God form letting out his Lion sounding roar.

 

“Be careful” Rhyme said telepathically

 

“Thanks…I will” Neku replied

 

Anthony, Izawa, Clarissa and Cedric (who now recovered from the attack) and the Soul Stealers all flew towards Neku making him smile

 

“I wasn’t really able to cut lose with this form last time, so now…I’ll show you what I can really do” he said darkly

 

In the blink of an eye Neku’s God form then became a stream of lightning and slashed the Soul Stealers, Izawa, Anthony, and Clarissa all that the same time.

 

“Good work Neku” Joshua thought pleased

 

He then became his God form again, roared and unleashed a dome of energy wiping out many of the Soul Stealers cutting them down to 60. He then held out his hand sending shock waves to Izawa and Clarissa blowing them up.

 

“Good, now it’s just him and the Soul Stealers” Neku thought

 

Anthony and Kurushii then flew towards Neku firing his Demon smoke again. Neku then held out his hand pushing the smoke away from him and flew towards Anthony. But as he did this Soul Stealers began to latch onto him to try to help speed up the fatigue the form gives him if he uses the God form for too long.

 

 

All the while this was happening, Mr. H was discussing Joshua’s proposal with the Higher Ups again and they told him their decision. After that he was dismissed to the Composer district. Once he entered there again, he could sense that Neku was in pain (thanks to his energy being inside of Neku)

 

“Phones!” Mr. H thought worried

 

 

He then closed his eyes and opened them revealing his Angel eyes, tracking his energy within Neku to see what was happening to Neku as a vision.

 

 

Neku blasted all the Soul Stealers away and Neku broke apart the streets of Shibuya and threw them at Kurushii and Anthony and the Soul Stealers making Neku’s friends look in awe as the ground crumbled as Neku was splitting it apart.

 

 

Neku then held out his right hand and sent bolts of God energy lightning down to the demons and summoned asteroids from the sky causing them to all crash into the demons now reducing them to 40 Soul Stealers.

 

Then Neku placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes as dozens of Kitaniji Dragon Noise all fall from the sky blasting energy at Anthony.

 

 

Neku then aimed his left hand to the sky and blasted energy into it making it rain causing thunder and lightning to be unleashed and then had the lightning fall into Neku’s hand as he shot it at Anthony followed by shooting fire at him.

  
  
Then Neku made his god energy surround him like a Sun and magnetically pulled the Soul Stealers towards them and made them orbit around him like planets before blasting them away from him with shock waves  
  


But now unleashing all of that power began to take its toll on Neku

 

“Nnngh! Wha…why do I? Rrrgh! No not now!” Neku roared squeezing his hair panting in pain from the God energy stinging him

 

 

The Soul Stealers then all tackled Neku making him scream as they all slashed him. Kurushii, and Anthony though weakened, had some strength left and sent their smoke to Neku to help his servants weaken him. Neku screamed and whimpered as the pain overwhelmed him.

 

 

Before he knew it, the smoke and soul stealers all attacked him with so much force that he was sent back flying head first towards the ground, barely conscious in his normal form again. He then felt a hard smack as he landed on his head causing him to lay face first on the ground.

 

Drained and exhausted Neku wasn’t sure what to do now, other than survive causing him to get back up regardless of how he whimpered in pain from feeling the Smorzando energy.

 

“Nnngh! Get…Get back…Nnngh! Don’t get any closer!” Neku cried out

 

“Damn it” he muttered “I can’t escape”

 

He wanted to run to his friends but he knew as long as Anthony and his Soul Stealers were there that he couldn’t go to them, even if he tried to teleport to them, Anthony could just as easily kill him before he gets the chance.

 

Neku then felt a sharp pain in his head causing him to squeeze his hair and his legs to tremble as Anthony walked closer. The pressure then increased causing him to land on his knees feeling his body get slashes leaking his energy.

 

“I…I can’t do anything any…more…I…what am I…gonna do?” Neku thought as he tried to remain conscious

 

As Neku whimpered in pain black fire appeared as an aura around him and he became gray mist with a blue tint to it and opened his eyes revealing that they were darkblue eyes (similar to his energy armor) and stood up no longer feeling an intense pain in his head

 

“What kind of energy form is this?” Neku thought staring at his hands noticing they had claws

 

Then at that moment Neku realized what has happened

 

“I don't want to be a being of sorrow anymore! My demon form's apart of me and we can’t exist without each other. my friends don't trust my demon form yet but…I want them to see that it can be trusted…and I WON’T let you kill me!” Damien shouted

 

Neku’s new energy form then slashed the Smorzando form with a total of 19 strikes before sending Anthony flying back and sent a massive dome of demon energy and his energy sending them all flying away. Neku then teleported over to Anthony with a little smile showing his shark like teeth

 

“How are you--

 

“Just shut the hell up! you still don't get it do you?! I TOLD YOU BEFORE! I'M NOT SCARED OF YOU ANYMORE REMEMBER?! Now…I have even more control over my demon energy …in a way…I’ve tamed it, and MY demon form! It IS me…it’s MY ENERGY!…and with it…I’ll beat you again!” Neku shouted furiously

 

He then let's out an inhuman roar as he blasted energy out of his right hand making it blast out of him like a flame thrower but it too was a new sort of color, it was gray with a blue tint with strands of black lightning around it blasting into Anthony’s Smorzando form making him revert to his powered down form.

 

  
  
Shiki and the others looked at Neku filled with pride, and smiled happily to see him becoming even stronger.

  
"You've gotten even stronger Neku. I'm glad that you don't let fear hurt you anymore" she said mentally as she smiled at him

 

Neku then cloned himself and that clone became his God form and blasted energy at Anthony him up and all the Soul Stealers blowing them up with only Kurushii left, knowing how the God energy was tiring to maintain Neku then snapped his fingers making the clone dissolve. The friends then look in shock seeing how Kurushii snapped his fingers and created Beat as his apprentice, making Beat look terrified.

 

"That's...that's me" Beat said scared

 

 

"It's like I said, he would make an excellent Demon Lord or apprentice through his menacing power. As a demon, I like to call your little friend who was once called Beat, Vincent instead" Kurushii said slyly

 

 

the Demon version of Beat had white hair, darker gray skin, and wore a blueish black tuxedo with a blood red shirt underneath with blackish-gray shoes. Knowing he would need to be able to take Beat's hits, and how strong he already is, Neku became his Demon form again and got ready to fight. Kurushii and Beat then dashed towards Damien with him becoming demon lightning slashing them both at the same time before becoming an explosion to blow them both away.

 

 

Demon Beat then teleported behind Damien and grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him to the ground so hard he made crator, making Shiki look at Damien terrified as Vincent then grabbed him by the neck and electrocuted him

 

"No! NEKU! You can do this! Remember how you were a Demon Lord! You gotta tap into that ferocity again!" Shiki yelled

 

 

Damien then punched Vincent in the face and Vincent punched Damien's face so hard, he punched Damien's Demon skin clean off of the right side of his face. Kurushii then teleported behind Neku and shot him with Demon energy making  Vincent then punch Damien in the stomach and grab his face and slam him to the ground again and was about to punch him only to have Damien teleport behind Demon Beat and slash him multiple times teleporting around his entire body before becoming an explosion almost knocking the apprentice out

 

"Don't think you'll be able to kill me so easily. I'm almost as strong as Kurushii himself." Damien snarled

 

Knowing that he still feels exhausted from his God form he then created pillars of Demon energy and blasted them at Demon Beat, but he just charged through them like a rhino and fired demon energy at Neku's chest. he then clones himself slashing Demon Beat multiple times and squeezing him by his neck and electrocuting him, making the apprentice scream in pain as his body and clothes were torn. He then fires pillars of Demon energy at Vincent making him scream to the point of crying

 

 

 

Damien then sees Kurushii attempt to grab him from the corner of his eye and then teleported away from them and closed his eyes and opened them unleashing a massive explosion blasting them both away. Kurushii then teleported behind Damien, making Damien look behind him and Kurushii then electrocuted him to the point he was crying and made Damien blast Kurushii away with another explosion and teleported far away from them and began to feel weak, reverting back to his normal form.

 

 

This made Vincent then tackle Neku and begin strangling him, burning him with Demon energy and then threw him into the air and blasted him with Demon energy to the point it tore Neku's skin apart. He then grabbed Neku's face and slammed him to the ground and punched Neku in the stomach, tearing a hole into Neku making his energy leak out. Neku then immediately teleports away from him and snaps his fingers making a clone. Since he was exhausted but the clone wasn't, he then transferred his God energy into the clone and it sent a meteor of God energy blowing them up

 

Neku then clenched his right arm panting out of breath and coughed up some orbs from how hard Vincent's punches were

 

 

The clone then held out his hand to Neku’s friends and unfroze them.

 

“Neku! You okay?!” Shiki shouted as she and the others ran to him

 

As they did they all came to an immediate stop seeing the clone still in Neku’s God form making the real Neku a little nervous

 

“Joshua…why isn’t my clone going back to normal and back inside of me?” Neku asked worried

 

Before Joshua could answer the clone did it for him

 

“I don’t want to go back…there’s so much power. Limitless power. There is no need for me to return I am capable of doing whatever I wish. I could make other Planets or continents, I could do anything. I am all that shall be…I am…everything” the clone said darkly

 

“No!” Neku shouted

 

“Neku you have to neutralize the clone. If you absorb it back like this, the next time you use your God form it’ll tear apart your mind even more. It’s already affecting the clone to the point it’s starting to act less like you” Joshua warned

 

Neku, then created an Angel Aura healing his wounds and floated to the clone

 

Neku then closed his eyes and placed his hands on his head

 

“Focus” he said quietly

 

He then pictured his clone returning to its normal form to look like Neku, and then imagined it disappearing. He then opened his eyes relieved to see that it had done that for real. He then returned to his Semi-Demon form to get a better look at it

 

“Yo man, wazup wid all of this?! How come you look all gray but with some blue in that form man?” Beat said clasping his shoulder

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“It’s my demon energy protecting me…it’s me…it’s Damien” Neku said smiling

 

Rhyme then giggled

 

“So then the Demon energy saved you Neku” Rhyme said happily

 

“yeah it really did” Neku said smiling with his mouth closed

 

He then closed his eyes and the Semi-Demon energy dissolved returning Neku to his normal look fully healed without slashes from his energy leaking and clothes torn from the previous attacks

 

"Neku! You sure you aight? Dat Demon version of me was so tough yo! I saw him...er...me punching holes into your face. You...you had me worried" Beat said sadly

 

Neku then hanged his head but then smiled looking up at him

 

 

"I'm still a little sore from him punching those holes into me but...I'm okay man, really...and no, that's not you. It's...what could've been. That COULD have been you, but it's not. Frankly, I'm glad. I dunno If would have been able to fight you if our roles were in reverse. If Clarissa made you the Demon Lord instead of me. Heh,even if worse if you were Kurushii's apprentice. I mean, I was only able to kill that Demon version of you thanks to my God energy you know?" Neku said with a smug smile

 

 

"tell me about it yo. Heh, I'm already pretty tough, but you are too Phones" Beat said with a smile

 

he then pulled Neku over and gave him a nuggie making Neku and the others smile and laugh. They then let go and see Joshua looking deep in thought but then returned to his usual smug smile

 

“just when I think I know how energy works, this happens. Heh, you’re always filled with surprises huh Neku?” Joshua said with his hands in his pockets

 

“huh?” Neku said curious

 

“I could sense a balance in that form. It was Demon energy but your energy was being used too. It was Demon energy  _and_  your energy being unleashed at the same time. Almost like the two were on a scale, balancing each other out in power” Joshua explained

 

Shiki and Eri then smiled

 

“So then…the demon energy…it wasn’t trying to posses Neku but…fight alongside him?” Shiki said happily

 

“exactly. Although Demon energy usually posseses the host naturally and Clarissa merely sped up that process...now, that it just has Neku, it's become apart of him” Joshua replied

 

“It really has changed” Eri said cheerfully

 

"And Neku breaking the link his Demon energy had to Kurushii helps too of course" The Composer added

 

“Are you okay?” she said concerned

 

Neku then smiled at her and all his friends

 

“yeah…it really saved my ass you know” Neku said scratching his head

 

“I guess then…it’s official now huh?” Shiki added

 

“What’s official?” Neku asked

 

“we trust your Demon energy now” Shiki replied

 

“Really?” Neku said shocked

 

“and not just her” Joshua also said “All of us feel the same way. It protected you when no one else could. We now know that everything’s really in the past now, we all trust your demon energy”

  
  
  
"do you all...really mean it?" Neku asked

 

  
  
"Of course" Shiki said smiling  
  


“thanks guys…I…I just knew I had to do something and the next thing I knew…that energy happened. As I focused on wanting to survive, I saw my room in my mind. I saw my... room getting a bluish tint to it heh…I guess my Demon energy was connecting with my energy” Neku said bashfully

 

Neku and his friends all said how they were glad that Neku's demon energy was under control and was truly merging with him. After Neku then reassured everyone that he was okay they all finally got ready to leave and enter another reality.

 

“C’mon, let’s get outta here” Neku said smiling

  
  
He closed his eyes feeling at peace

Rhyme then giggled happy to see her brother okay again and they all closed their eyes and entered another version of Shibuya

 

To be continued…


	35. Nekopan

Neku and his friends all entered another Shibuya but they all noticed something was off about it causing them to hide in an alley to monitor what was going on. It was similar to that animal Shibuya except for one thing…

 

Shiki gasped at what she noticed and pointed it out to the others.

  
  


“Guys look it’s Neku but…he’s…What the heck is this?!” Shiki roared

  
  


“Aw Snap!” Neku shouted

  
  


They all saw what looked like Neku but as some half human, half cat sort of creature without his headphones.

  
  


He was an Orange Tabby Cat walking with a bottle of milk in his hand. He was also more Cat than human with stubby Cat paws and large feline eyes with a cat face to match. It’s because of this, Neku’s blue gray eyes popped in this reality as huge cat eyes.

  
  


This kitty Neku couldn’t help but purr as he drank from the milk bottle walking around Shibuya to find his other Feline friends.

  
  


“BWAAAAAAAH! Shiki’s right yo! it’s Neku!” Beat screamed

  
  


“What the hell is this Joshua?! I though you said alternate realities are formed based off of the actions one doesn’t take? So how the hell is there a Cat version of me?!” Neku shouted shaking his fist at him

  
  


“Well my guess is that this reality formed based off of  the actions humans made, like making civilizations. In this reality I guess that action was never done by humans, but by animals instead. I guess this reality is based off of the actions animals can’t take making them more like humans” Joshua said thoughtfully

  
  


Neku then scratched his head feeling awkward that such a reality exists

  
  


“Oh, I guess that make sense putting it that way” Neku said bashfully

  
  


“Guys look! I think I see Shiki!” Eri shouted pointing at a brown haired kitty

  
  


Sure enough she was right, it was Shiki’s true form as a Caliko Tabby Cat. She had grayish brown fur around her head that stopped just below her eyes causing her glasses to overlap that pattern on her head.

  
  


While bottom half of her face was white with a pink nose like Neku, and an upside down “V” shape in the middle of her face in between the eyes, with a  patch of orange on her left ear, with Right Ear being black.

  
  


The rest of her body was white with an orange patch on her left shoulder and grayish brown one on her right. Her tail also was grayish brown.

  
  


The kitty Shiki also had yellow brown eyes like the real Shiki. The kitty Shiki then walked up to Neku and smiled.

  
  


Then she and Neku rubbed their faces against each other purring, the way cats say “Hello” to each other. After that the kitties then stood away from each other to talk

  
  


“Hey Neku, how’s everything?” she said happily

  
  


“Meh, pretty meowsy. I was just taking a walk around the city after waking up from one of my naps earlier today” he exclaimed

  
  


“heh I know what you mean. say is that the new milk you got a few days ago?” Cat Shiki asked

  
  


“Yup, Mooy Moo milk. It’s so rad. I just love sipping it while taking a walk” he said happily

  
  


“yeah I love that brand of milk too. By the way, I got something new too” the cat Shiki said happily

  
  


“really? I wanna see” kitty Neku said smiling

  
  


The cat Shiki then pulled out a red colored string

  
  


“whoa I love string” kitty Neku said happily

  
  


“Cool, you want it?” cat Shiki asked

  
  


“Oh well um…do you mind Shiki? I mean string is awesome, do you really wanna give that up?” kitty Neku asked scratching his head

  
  


Kitty Shiki then smiled

  
  


“Sure I have more string at home, I love to play with them” she added

  
  


Neku then thanked her and placed the string in his left pocket. At that moment Eri then spotted herself, a Turkish Van kitty. She was white with a bushy orange tail with stripes, and orange patches on her ears with brown eyes.

  
  


The moment she walked up to Shiki, the two girls head butted each other (another way Cats greet each other) and then stood back smiling at each other

  
  


“Hey Shiki, hey Neku” Eri said smiling

  
  


“Hey Eri, what’s up? Designed anything new with Shiki?” Neku asked

  
  


“Not recently, but that’s cause we just got a design done a few weeks ago” Eri said proudly

  
  


Shiki then giggled

  
  


“Yeah it’s really fun sewing the clothes and stuff” Shiki said happily

  
  


At that moment Neku and his friends got closer knowing the barrier would keep them invisible and saw the only non domestic cats in kitty Neku’s group of friends were Beat and Rhyme, with Beat being an adolescent Lion and Rhyme being a lion cub, something that made Beat scream.

  
  


“BWAAAAAAAHAAAAAH! I-Is that really…ME yo?!” Beat said shocked

  
  


Neku and his friends were completely startled to see Beat and Rhyme’s wild cat alter egos. Regardless of them being wild animals, Beat and Rhyme were at the height of their human counter parts, like kitty Neku and friends

  
  


“Y-Yeah it is…you but…you’re a freaking LION! What if you try to eat me?!” Neku yelled

  
  


Joshua then chuckled

  
  


“Don’t worry Neku, I don’t think that Beat would do that, if you haven’t noticed, it seems everyone’s personalities are intact here. So I think you, and the kitty versions of Shiki and Eri are safe” Joshua said reassuringly

  
  


 

 

“Sup guys, anythin’ new yo?” Lion Beat asked

  
  


“Heh nothing really, I just got this awesome brand of milk though” kitty Neku remarked

  
  


“Mooy Moo Milk? I love that stuff too!” Lion cub Rhyme added “My favorite flavor’s gotta be their strawberry flavor”

  
  


Kitty Neku then sipped the milk again with the bottle being almost done

  
  


“Nice…they have a Yogurt kind of taste to those flavors” kitty Neku said smiling

  
  


“Yup” Cub Rhyme said smiling

  
  


After that the kitties in this Shibuya all wandered around the city, and then the kitties headed to the Scramble Crossing.

  
  


Kitty Neku finished his drink and threw it away in a near by garbage can.

  
  


After that he then stopped walking and felt something come up. The real Neku and friends then looked at the kitty version curiously

  
  


“Guys…wait up” kitty Neku said clenching his stomach

  
  


The cats then stopped and waited for kitty Neku

  
  


“You okay? You look pretty meowsy Neku” Shiki said worried

  
  


Kitty Neku then began to wheeze and gag before finally coughing up a hair ball making the real Neku and friends look completely startled at the kitty.

  
  


“Ugh that’s what I get for the bath I took recently” Neku said clenching his stomach

  
  


“Yo Phones, you aight?” Lion Beat asked

  
  


“yeah, I’m fine…come on, let’s get going” the orange kitty replied

  
  


The kitties and lions then crossed the scramble crossing and continued walking around the city heading to Wild Cat…which was actually open in this reality.

  
  


The real Neku and friends saw that Mr. H was a black panther in this reality and everyone knew he was CAT in this Shibuya causing some of his customers to call him that

  
  


“Whoa…everyone knows he’s CAT here? And…they’re okay with it? Damn that’s so cool” Neku thought happy for Mr. H

  
  


The Kitties and Lions then walk into the café.

  
  


“Hey you guys, how’s it going? You want the usual?” Panther Mr. H asked

  
  


“sure” they all said happily

  
  


After they all had their favorite blend of coffee, kitty Neku smiled at Panther Mr. H

  
  


“it’s great as always CAT” the orange cat said happily

  
  


“heh thanks Neku” Mr. H replied

  
  


“heh sweet so in this reality, Mr. H knows my name already? Cool” the real Neku remarked

  
  


“yeah but…what’s with this place? Is it only populated by cats or something?” Shiki said curious

  
  


“It sure seems that way doesn’t it?” Eri added

  
  


“Tell me about it” Neku replied “I mean what’s next? We…oh I don’t know…in this version of Shibuya don’t write in Kanji but some…kitty language?”

  
  


 

 

“You know from the looks of this place…I wouldn’t doubt it” Rhyme said smiling

  
  


Even Joshua chuckled at the idea of the kitties all having their own language. After the kitties were done hanging out at Wild Cat they walked around the city again and ate at Ken Doi’s restaurant.

  
  


The real Neku and his friends chuckled seeing a long haired white cat, who was kinda chunky as the restaurant owner.

  
  


The kitties all had their favorite bowel of ramen, matching the real versions of themselves. Neku and his friends chuckled as they saw them lick the bowel of ramen.

  
  


After the kitties were done eating, setting their chopsticks on the table, kitty Neku began to smack his chop sticks over and over, giving into one of his kitty impulses

  
  


“Must…smack…chopsticks” Kitty Neku thought causing Neku and his friends to giggle

  
  


Kitty Neku then began smacking the chopsticks with his right paw over and over

  
  


“Neku?” kitty Shiki said curious “ _Neku_ ” she said again

  
  


He then smacked them over and over making them fall on the floor causing kitty Neku to let out meow

  
  


“Eeeow!” Neku said loudly as pounced on the sticks

  
  


The kitties and lions laughed along with Ken Doi

  
  


Kitty Neku then stopped and looked at the restaurant owner

  
  


“heh, don’t worry about it Neku, I love playing with chopsticks too” Ken Doi said smiling

  
  


Neku then smiled, grabbed the chopsticks and got back up

  
  


“are you guys ready for the ceremony it’s today!” Ken Doi said smiling

  
  


“Huh? Really oh…well I guess yeah” kitty Neku replied

  
  


They all smiled and laughed again knowing how awkward it is

  
  


“Is the Cat Leader gonna be there?” kitty Eri asked

  
  


“Yup same as almost every year” Ken Doi added

  
  


“Cat Leader? Wonder what that's about?” Neku thought

  
  


Joshua then crossed his arms

  
  


“You know, that may be a possibility seeing how weird this world is” Joshua said thoughtfully

  
  


After Ken Doi said their meal was free and all on him, the kitties all thanked him along with the lions doing so too, and continued walking around Shibuya ending up by the Hachiko Statue. It was then the ghosts and Composer all saw the Reapers as wild cats and a kitty.

  
  


Konishi was a tiger, like her Noise form, Yodai was a cougar, Megumi was a bob cat, Uzuki was a white tiger and Kariya was a gray tabby cat. Upon seeing these alter egos Beat was thrown into shock

  
  


“BWAAAHAAAH! I-Is that…the Iron Maiden yo?! Damn…all of ‘em are wild animals yo! What’s up wid this?! Jus’ what the hell is this version of Shibuya yo?!” Beat roared

  
  


Neku then felt concerned as he saw himself approach the Cat Reapers.

  
  


“No!" Neku thought "if they get near them, those Reapers might--

  
  


“Hey Ms. K” kitty Neku said waving his paw

  
  


Konishi then purred as the kitties all approached her waving back at them, causing all the Reaper Cats to wave back at them as well.

  
  


“Hi Neku, how goes everything?” she asked smiling

  
  


“Good, I’ve been getting better at my pouncing lately too and--

  
  


At that moment, one of the non anthropomorphic (personified) animals flew by them…a Monarch butterfly. This then caused kitty Neku to growl and get on all fours with his but in the air shaking his tail as he approached the butterfly.

  
  


as it landed on one of the trees near the statue causing other kitties to back away as they saw Neku approaching.

  
  


“You’re mine!” kitty Neku thought as he crept towards the butterfly

  
  


Konishi and all the other cats stood back and watched as Neku got closer smiling at how he’s improved on stalking (something that is taught at his high school by Konishi)

  
  


“I can see Neku’s harnessed more of his feline instincts” Konishi said smiling

  
  


“yeah, I practice stalking the not as advanced animals with him too” kitty Shiki said smiling

  
  


Neku then stopped and wiggled his tail in the air as he shook his but. As he did this, the kitty Neku began to make a purring sort of vibrating noise.

  
  


“Vrrrrr!”

  
  


“Once” Konishi counted in her head “Twice, then…attack!”

  
  


Upon the third shake Neku pounced at the tree

  
  


“Vrrrrr…Reeeh!” kitty Neku exclaimed

  
  


He then ended up on the tree glaring at the butterfly as it flew away

  
  


“You might’ve been lucky this time…but I’ll get you one day!” he exclaimed at his enemy

  
  


He then got off of the tree with one of the non cat citizens of this Shibuya (A Husky) near the Hachiko statue remarking on his technique

  
  


“You’ve got excellent execution kid, you waited at just the right moment to pounce”  the husky said smiling

  
  


“thanks but…I’ve gotten really good only by practicing” kitty Neku remarked

  
  


“true, I remember being taught something similar when I was in school too” the husky said happily

  
  


They then said their goodbyes and kitty Neku walked back to his friends with their math teacher approaching a snow leopard version of Sho Minamimoto.

  
  


“Heh, nice aim Neku that was some zetta awesome hunting” Sho remarked

  
  


“heh heh, thanks teach” kitty Neku replied

  
  


After they parted ways kitty Neku and friends all walked towards the Scramble Crossing with the real Neku and friends following

  
  


“Um guys…has anyone else noticed that Joshua’s cat alter ego isn’t here?” Neku said curiously as he walked

  
  


“Yeah he has to be around here somewhere right?” Shiki said wondering where he could be

  
  


“You don’t think that he’s…no never mind” Eri said as she walked

  
  


“Huh? What’s up?” Rhyme asked her

  
  


“Well I don’t know…I mean, we know the real Joshua’s the Composer of Shibuya but, does that mean the kitty Joshua…that is, if he’s a kitty, is a Composer too?” Eri said thoughtfully

  
  


Neku and friends then stop walking imagining Joshua’s true form, imagining  a Death God with Cat ears, face paws, and tail. Rhyme then giggled at the image in her and everyone else’s head.

  
  


“that’s actually kind of funny” Rhyme said smiling

  
  


“Heh yeah, having a Death God kitty with the power to destroy the world does sound weird” Neku said chuckling at the thought

  
  


Joshua then chuckled at that thought too.

  
  


“A god of Death that’s also a cat huh…Hee hee, I suppose that would be rather interesting” Joshua said with a smug smile.

  
  


As the ghosts and Composer walked closer to the kitty alter egos, the kitties all had a conversation discussing how they all feel like they’re being watched

  
  


“Hey guys, does anyone feel like someone’s following us?” kitty Neku asked

 

The ghosts and Composer then stopped with Neku looking at Joshua

  
  


“yeah it feels like someone’s following us” Kitty Shiki added

  
  


The kitties then turned around and looked behind them, unaware that they were facing the ghosts.

  
  


“Joshua…what’s going on? Are they actually sensing us?” Neku said curiously

  
  


Joshua then crossed his arms thinking, he then placed his hands in his back pockets and smiled, chuckling.

  
  


“Apparently yes…after all, animals have much more keen senses than humans, enabling them to hear, taste, smell and  _see_  things that humans can’t” Joshua added

  
  


Neku then gasped

  
  


“You mean they…they can see us?!” Neku said shocked

  
  


“I’m not sure but it is a possibility. Animals have been able to see spirits and other forms of energy in the past. Sometimes spirits become visible as orbs due to them feeling weak, nearly at the point of Soul Obstruction” Joshua added

  
  


As they continued their discussion the kitties then turned around and kept on walking.

  
  


“What do you think that was?” Lion cub Rhyme asked

  
  


“Yeah that was weird…it’s probably nothing to worry about though, I’m sure we were just a little paranoid” kitty Eri added

  
  


“That’s a good point” kitty Shiki also said

  
  


“But….at the same time” Kitty Neku added “I’ve seen some weird stuff too, stuff I can’t explain and it makes me feel…meowsy, like there are things that I don’t understand”

  
  


The kitty Neku then hid his face and paws in his pockets

  
  


Kitty Shiki then tried to cheer him up

  
  


“C’mon now Neku, I’ve seen that energy stuff too. There’s no need to feel so meowsy about it. It’s just a thing us kitties can see that’s all, who knows, maybe that energy stuff is friendly” she said smiling

  
  


“Yeah man, that ain’t somthin’ you gotta get so upset about yo. It’s like what you told me Phones: Focus on the now” Lion Beat said happily

  
  


Kitty Neku then purred as he looked up at his friends

  
  


“thanks” he said sincerely

  
  


“heh heh, don’t mention it” kitty Shiki added

  
  


The ghosts and Composer then remarked on what they had seen

  
  


“Whoa…they really do act like us” Rhyme said shocked

  
  


“heh, yeah…it’s kinds cool” Neku added

  
  


“I guess we should keep our distance huh? We don’t want to upset them” Shiki exclaimed

  
  


After agreeing to trying to keep more distance Neku and his friends followed the kitties when they were surprised to see someone as a white cat that teleported into the air, floating. It was so shocking that the real Neku and friends gasped

  
  


Kitty Neku and friends smiled at the mysterious floating cat and smiled

  
  


“Hey Joshua” kitty Neku said greeting him

  
  


“Hello there Neku, I see you have your friends with you too, that’s good. I’m here to get the ceremony started” kitty Joshua said smiling

  
  


The kitties all giggled whereas the ghosts and real Joshua looked at each other confused

  
  


The kitty Joshua then floated higher in the air and had a gray aura around him.

  
  


“Wait he’s using his Composer abilities?!” the real Neku said shocked

  
  


“I guess in this world, everyone knows he’s the Composer of Shibuya” Shiki said also shocked

  
  


“Damn this is just too weird yo!” Beat said stunned

  
  


“tell me about it” Eri added

  
  


“what do you think he’s gonna do?” Rhyme asked

  
  


“Hmm, that is a good question Rhyme” Joshua said curious about his counter part “We should all keep quiet to see what he says”

  
  


All nodding in agreement the ghosts and Joshua all watch the kitty Joshua floating in the sky, speaking in his Composer voice

  
  


“My fellow kitties, as the Cat Leader, it gives me great pride to say that the tradition we started many years ago, has come to start again. As we all know, this nation was founded by a cat, our language, form of writing and culture, was all made by him, causing this nation to be named Nekopan” kitty Joshua announced

  
  


“Nekopan?!” Neku shouted “as in…CATS?!”

  
  


“what’s next? The red dot on the flag of Japan has kitty ears?” Shiki said startled

  
  


“apparently so” Joshua said pointing to the flag the Cat Leader pulled out of his back pocket

  
  


“WHAT?!” Eri shouted “this is too weird!”

  
  


The Leader then continued

 

“And as a result, we will continue the tradition he started with, with the ceremony today! Everyone, quickly grab yourselves a partner…

  
  


He then generated Composer energy in his left hand and shot it at the city then snapped his fingers, causing it to spread making all the kitties, lions and other animals of the city all have something happen to them

  
  


“Because now it’s time for the Mating Ceremony!” Kitty Joshua said happily

 

"MATING Ceremony?!" Neku shouted in his usual shocked stance

 

Lion Rhyme and Beat grabbed a kitty next to them, and so did kitty Neku, Shiki, and Eri all letting out wails and cries of being in heat

  
  


“WEEEEEOOOOOW!”

  
  


“MEEEEEEOW!”

  
  


“WAAAAAAAH!”

  
  


Neku and his friends all looked in shock, and feeling extremely disturbed as the kitties would rub their bellies against the floor all wailing. Eventually the kitty versions of themselves all got a partner causing everyone to feel even more disturbed.

 

Neku couldn’t help but blush at what he was seeing, even Joshua felt awkward causing his human form to get a nose bleed.

  
  


“Joshua?” Neku said curious

  
  


“I’m fine” Joshua lied

  
  


Once the kitties all began the ceremony Neku and friends were all thrown into a state of shock wanting to block out what was happening. Joshua looked to his left to see Neku covering his ears, Shiki covering her mouth, and Beat covering Rhyme’s eyes.

  
  


“This is…so weird yo” Beat said weakly

  
  


“ugh I know this is so…messed up! This means that none of the animals here were spayed or neutered!” Eri added

  
  


The cries of the passionate kitties continued

  
  


“EEEEEEEEEOW!”

  
  


 

 

“REEEEEEEH!”

  
  


 

 

“MEEEEEEOW!”

  
  


 

 

“Neku?” Joshua said weakly “Neku?”

  
  


Joshua then tapped Neku’s arm snapping him out of his trance of staring at the kitties making him uncover his ears

  
  


“Neku, um don’t you think we should go?” Joshua said crossing his arms

  
  


“Oh, um…yeah good idea” Neku said scratching his head

  
  


Neku then did his usual pose for concentrating and closed his eyes

  
  


“Focus” he muttered

  
  


At that moment he and his friends then all teleported back to the Composer district. Once Neku opened his eyes, he lets out a sigh of relief.

  
  


“Man that was…so…so…I…I don’t even know what to say” Neku said scratching his head again

  
  


“yeah I don’t know what to say either” Shiki said squeezing Mr. Mew

  
  


“I for one am actually glad I never saw what was happening” Rhyme added thankful that Beat covered her eyes

  
  


“Tsk, damn that was so creepy yo. I can’t help but feel…wrong man. Like I ain’t suppose to see that sorta thing” Beat said clasping his shoulder

  
  


Eri joined in the awkward feeling too

  
  


“I know right? Maybe this is why our parents only let us see certain movies, especially since I’m guessing the movies for older people actually show this kind of stuff” she said weakly

  
  


Neku and friends then all shuttered at the thought of a rated R movie or rather…the rating above that, movies so messed up, so disturbing in content, that they can’t show it in theaters, NC 17 or X rated.

  
  


Joshua then placed his hands in his front pockets while taking out his left one summoning a tissue to clean his nose. After wiping the blood away from his nose he then tossed it in the air and snapped his fingers making it disappear.

  
  


The smug Composer then place his left hand back in his pocket

  
  


“well, that was a rather interesting experience” Joshua said nonchalantly

  
  


“Heh, that’s putting it lightly” Neku said scratching his head again

  
  


Joshua then chuckled

  
  


“Hee hee. I don’t know about you guys, but I feel like I’ve had my fill for now. I kind of want some normalcy again after seeing that world” Joshua said with a smug smile  

  
  


“Yeah we kind feel the same way” Eri added

  
  


“alright, I guess I’ll see you all later then” Joshua said with his hands by his side

  
  


“Okay, see ya later” Neku said smiling

  
  


Joshua then smiled at his Proxy and walked away

  
  


“I don’t know why” Joshua thought “But…as awkward as that reality was at times…I did kind of enjoy it. I guess…it was actually…fun”

  
  


After Joshua was out of sight, Neku and his friends all rested in the Composer district’s meadow for a while and then returned back to the HP Shibuya where they all returned to their homes.

  
  


As they relaxed, Joshua came across a familiar face

  
  


“Hi Mr. H so…did you learn anything new?” he asked as he stopped walking

  
  


Mr. H then walked standing in front of Joshua. He then scratched his head and sighed filled with concern over Neku wondering how he would take the news.

  
  


“Yeah, after giving it much thought, and debating about it discussing the good and bad to come out of the idea you told them, the Maestros have all come to a decision Boss, they accepted it” Mr. H said smiling hiding his concern

  
  


Joshua, a little shocked at first, then chuckled with his hands in his back pockets

  
  


“So when do you think I should tell them?” Joshua asked

  
  


Mr. H, removing all humor from his face became serious

  
  


“Boss, you know how this’ll be an issue for Neku and you also know how much his friends, including you, mean to him. All of us play an important roll in his life, each of us helped him become who he is now. So…you know that he may not take this very well” Mr. H said sternly

  
  


Joshua then placed his right hand over his mouth and right hand in his back pocket

  
  


“Yeah…I know how this could affect him. Those are all good points you know” Joshua said seriously

  
  


Joshua then crossed his arms and sighed

  
  


“alright, I guess for now we should give them some space but, considering how busy you’ve been, you can go hang out with them if you want” Joshua added

  
  


“Good idea, that way I’ll be able to monitor Phones” Mr. H said seriously


	36. Graffiti Artists

As Neku relaxed in his house, he watched tv in his living room for a few hours. He watched various tv shows and when one of them cut to a commercial break, Neku then went to get a snack in the kitchen and couldn’t help but think about that cat dimension.

  
  


“Man that place was…kinda weird…especially with that…mating ceremony. I mean seriously, maybe that’s why my mom and dad only let me watch certain movies…as long as they don’t have any of that nasty stuff in it. I usually only watch the ones with lots of cussing in it” Neku thought

  
  


He then opened up the refrigerator and got out a container that had four chicken nuggets

  
  


“Still, watching the kitty me pounce at that butterfly was kinda funny” he thought smiling

  
  


Neku then left his house to walk around the city and began eating the chicken nuggets

  
  


“I wonder if they make this in that kitty world” he thought as he chewed

  
  


As he walked past the scramble crossing, Neku then ate the second chicken nugget

  
  


Time passed and he then ate the third and fourth chicken nugget washing it down with Wild Cat coffee

  
  


“man…Mr. H is really good at making coffee” Neku thought as he sipped it

  
  


“I wonder if I would get a sugar high by drinking so much of this in the RG. Heh, knowing Mr. Hanekoma…he’d probably find a way to make his coffee be healthier than other brands and yet still taste good, since he’s just….so cool like that”

  
  


As Neku smiled while drinking the coffee, at that time Mr. H had just gotten done adding to his secret reports about Neku’s progress in the Higher Plane

  
  


“I’ve added some more detail Head Maestro, I’ll be sure to show you my newest entries once it’s finished” Mr. H said telepathically

  
  


“Very good Sanae, I’m looking forward to your updates” Aiden replied

  
  


Mr. H then placed his pen and journal down and walked around his house and stretched out his arms letting out a little sigh

  
  


“Heh, it’s been so long since I’ve been able to relax in my house like this. Well, I guess now would be a good time to go check up on Phones. I hope he can handle everything when Joshua reveals what the Higher Ups agreed to. I can’t help but think it’ll hurt him…but…now’s not the time to worry about that, I should enjoy my time with him now that I finally have a break” Mr. H thought

  
  


In the mean time Joshua was bringing more humans to the Higher Plane

  
  


“I can’t believe they agreed to it” Joshua thought “Will Neku be able to handle the news? And what about his friends, will they handle it okay? For some reason, I can’t help but worry more about him. Neku’s gone through a lot, and his afterlife hasn’t been the most pleasant one, not until recently that is. I can sense that he also went through a lot more stress in the Higher Plane than in the Reapers’ Game”

  
  


Joshua then sighed

  
  


“And as for the Angels’ Game, that nearly killed him. Sure he had close calls in my Game too, like when that Taboo Rhino Noise tried to attack Neku from behind. If he was caught off guard, the Noise could’ve easily taken advantage of that and put him at the brink of erasure. On top of that, Neku fought Angels in the Angels’ Game and I could sense how since he knew he was out matched, he felt nervous and doubtful. While there is a gap between Players and Reapers in terms of their level of Imagination, the gap isn't that big. But a ghost, or Human Soul is vastly outmatched compared to an Angel.” Joshua thought again

  
  


“Fighting a Serial killer, and nearly losing his life to him, and fighting a girl desensitized to death and nearly meeting the same fate, needing to avoid the Death Bringer…then having to fight me and Mr. H, The Angels’ Game was a lot harder than the Reapers’ Game. Both versions were…If anything, if it wasn’t for him being in life-threatening situations before, I think the Angels’ Game would’ve killed him”

  
  


“As hard as the Reapers’ Game was for him, he had Shiki to help guide him in the city…but…I can’t help but wonder if Neku would’ve even survived if he didn’t have her in the first week. It clearly showed in the Angels’ Game that if Neku is in an unfamiliar place with no guidance whatsoever, that he struggles with that transition. Being in a place he’s never been before in addition to being constantly targeted by Hunters, nearly overwhelmed him”

  
  


Joshua then snapped his fingers killing another human

  
  


“Neku really is lucky, if he wasn’t an artist person with such a strong imagination…then he wouldn’t even be here right now. He would’ve faced Soul Obstruction a long time ago…he would’ve lost his life when he encountered Cedric. I just hope he’ll be able to handle what I tell him…or maybe…yeah that’s it…I’ll tell one of his friends so then they can tell him…and I know just who’ll give him the news…but not yet, Neku should enjoy himself a little” Joshua thought concerned

  
  


Neku was in his room looking up different styles of graffiti on the internet when something interrupted him. He heard a knock on his door, and the moment he heard the person’s voice, Neku’s face lit up with happiness. He just couldn’t help but smile.

  
  


“Hey there Neku. I finally got some time off and I was wondering if you--

  
  


Unable to contain his excitement Neku teleported to the door and opened it before his friend could finish speaking.

  
  


Mr. H then chuckled

  
  


“I should’ve guessed you’d respond this way” Mr. H said smiling

  
  


Neku’s smile then vanished and he looked at his graffiti loving friend a little confused

 

“Huh? What do you mean Mr. H?” Neku said a little unsure

  
  


Mr. H then patted Neku’s head

  
  


“well you were so eager, so happy when you answered the door. I’m just glad that you wanted to hang out with me Phones that’s all” Mr. H said happily

  
  


Neku then chuckled

  
  


“Well, what can I say…you’re really cool you know?” Neku said smiling

  
  


Mr. H then smiled back feeling flattered once again

  
  


“thanks kiddo, you’re really cool too. So…anyway you wanna go for a little walk?” Mr. H asked

  
  


“heh…don’t mention it Mr. Hanekoma…and yeah that sounds cool” Neku said hiding how happy he really was

  
  


“I never in my whole life, ever thought that I’d get to meet CAT, let alone befriend him” Neku thought happily

  
  


Hearing Neku’s thought made Mr. H smile as they walked out the door together. They then headed towards Cat street since Neku’s house was close to that street. As they did Neku couldn’t help but chuckle

  
  


“You know it’s funny Sanae…I never knew that CAT had his own café…heh…back when I found out about that it just made me so…shocked” Neku said smiling being sure not to give Joshua away

  
  


Mr. H then chuckled remembering that Joshua had revealed that

  
  


“Heh, it’s funny that you brought that up cause, ordinarily I would’ve been concerned if anyone found out about me…but when Joshua told you that, I knew you’d keep my secret safe” Mr. H said smiling

  
  


As they walked Neku couldn’t help but look at the Angel confused

  
  


“Huh? But...I thought you…well…that you disappeared after the first week. I saw you a few times when I was with Joshua in the second week but then you were completely gone in the third. So…how did you know about that?” Neku said curiously

  
  


Mr. H then chuckled

  
  


“Well as you know, I’m a Guardian. I make sure the Reapers’ Game is played fair…even though you ended up breaking so many rules that they didn’t apply to you anymore. Still, I would switch back and forth from the Café, to the Higher Plane so people wouldn’t see me, including you. I had to keep myself uncover so I could watch over you and Joshua, and eventually you and Beat. I was technically watching over you the whole time kiddo, I just wanted you to be safe” Mr. H replied

  
  


Neku then stopped walking and clasped his right shoulder

  
  


“Mr. Hanekoma…You…you really mean that? I thought you were there to make sure that Joshua’s little plan didn’t go too far…like when he used me to… try to destroy Shibuya. You…were watching over me the whole time? even when I was…with Shiki?” Neku said weakly trying process everything

  
  


“Well…yeah. I already told ya that…well…you mean a lot to me Phones…you’re my friend after all, and even if I didn’t know you back then, like the way I do now, I just…wanted you to be safe. I couldn’t help but feel like I wanted to go a little beyond my job in the Reapers’ Game. That’s why I gave you advice to expand your world…I just…wanted to reach out to you” Mr. H said smiling

  
  


Neku then looked up at Mr. H shocked causing the caring Angel to pat Neku’s head again

  
  


“What’s with the shocked look on your face Phones? That’s just who I am as a person, I wanted you to be happy. I guess maybe that’s why I was just able to transition to Angel ranking? In addition to protecting the Higher Ups and citizens of the Higher Plane, it’s my job to protect you” the angel said happily

  
  


“But…Mr. H…in addition to all of that, your job’s to protect the Composer of Shibuya…

  
  


Neku then hid his face in his collar with his hands in his pockets feeling a little sad, which made Mr. H a little sad too, sensing that in Neku.

  
  


“Not me…if I was alive then…I…I wouldn’t know you. I wouldn’t know that I have someone watching over me, ready to protect me” Neku said sadly

  
  


“You would only get to be CAT around me…that is…if I even saw you in the RG. I would’ve never had gotten to know you, as a protector, a Guardian. Someone that…makes me feel safe when I…can’t take it anymore” Neku added

  
  


Mr. H then placed his hand on Neku’s right shoulder

  
  


“heh, sure you could. Even if you were in the RG, even if you never knew what I really am, I’d still be there for you” Mr. H replied

  
  


“What? What do you mean?” Neku said weakly

  
  


“I mean that in addition to helping humans when there sad, that we Guardian Angels choose to help a certain human, like that boy that told ya how he lived on the streets until a man took him in” the Angel explained

  
  


“You mean…Tetsu? The man that helped him, was an Angel?” Neku said still hiding his face

  
  


“that’s right” Mr. H replied

  
  


“We Angels observe the state of that human’s Soul and then tell the Higher Ups that that’s the one we want to help. If they believe that the Angel can succeed in helping that human, then we’re sent to go and help them. Usually, the only time the Higher Ups will agree with our pick if they feel like that human desperately needs an Angel watching over them” Mr. H said smiling

  
  


“Knowing this, can you guess who I wanted to help?” Mr. H said rubbing his neck

  
  


Seeing the connection Neku then gasped and looked up at Mr. H in shock

  
  


“You mean that…I…I’m--

  
  


Mr. H then smiled at scratched his neck

  
  


“Yup. You’re the person I wanted to help. especially before your run in the Reapers' Game, I knew I wanted to help you too.” Mr. H said smiling “In addition to protecting the Higher Plane’s citizens, the Composer, and the Higher Ups, my job is to protect, and guide the human that I chose to be with. Although it sounds like I have a lot to deal with, it’s not that bad”

  
  


“See I only protect the Higher Ups in a state of emergency, like when the Soul Stealers snuck into the Court room and other than that, I hang out with Joshua cause we go way back, but it's also to make sure he’s okay and as for everyone else, I just check up on them through my portal, like what I do for you here. Then if I see them in danger, I go protect them” Mr. H explained

  
  


Neku then stood in silence hiding his face within his collar and hands in his pockets again, trying to take everything in. after a few seconds he raised his head again clasping his shoulder still filled with confusion and shock

  
  


“So then…you’re not just The Composer of Shibuya’s Guardian because he's your friend...but…you’re…my Guardian too?” Neku said in disbelief

  
  


Mr. H then chuckled again

  
  


“sure am. That’s one of the reasons I started CAT. As you know, I first started it wanting to help people be happy, and although I have done a lot with CAT over the time the company was around in the RG, when you came along, I watched all of the things that happened to you until…it was too painful to watch. That’s why I didn’t know that you drew the Ghost Cat until you told me” Mr. H said sincerely

  
  


“It was hurting too much to watch you be filled with such sadness. But it’s because of this that I knew I had to help you. I wanted you to be happy, and although the tag mural already had command codes in it, I boosted their affect in an attempt to heal your mind and soul. And not just you Phones, I wanted to heal everyone who felt that sadness, and by doing that, boost people's imagination...to make a better future for you, and for everyone.” Mr. H explained

  
  


Neku then smiled

  
  


“You…really mean that?” Neku said amazed

  
  


“You bet kiddo. As a Guardian, our job is to help protect and  _guide_  that human that we chose to protect. As you know, I was living in the RG when I met Joshua and by then I had already become an Angel, so as we became friends, I wanted to help him, and was assigned to him first, but...this applies to you too. From watching them grow up, to making sure that they don’t die before their time of passing. But at the same time, that doesn’t mean that humans live a care free life. As you know, part of being human is suffering, but enduring the harder parts of life, makes that person’s soul stronger. That’s why…as much as I hated it, in addition to knowing how much Joshua has suffered, I had to let you get hurt by the world too Neku” Mr. H added

  
  


“You mean…if it were up to you…you would’ve stopped all of that from happening?” Neku asked smiling

  
  


“Of course” Mr. H replies “Since we Angels are very empathetic, we hate seeing humans so sad, especially the ones we watch over, cause it makes us feel that sadness too”

  
  


Neku then scratched his head

  
  


“Oh…sorry I guess. I um…I didn’t know that you felt the sadness that I did back then” Neku said feeling a little awkward

  
  


“no need to apologize Phones, it’s not your fault that you were hurt” Mr. H said smiling

  
  


Neku then smiled back at the Guardian

  
  


“Thanks Mr. H” Neku said smiling

  
  


“Don’t mention it Neku” Mr. H replied

  
  


Neku and Mr. H then walked around the city some more when he had an idea. Once he and Neku reached the Scramble Crossing he then proposed the idea to Neku.

  
  


“hey Phones I got a little idea” Mr. H said smiling

  
  


Neku then chuckled

  
  


“well what is it?” Neku asked

  
  


“Do you wanna find a legal wall so we could spray paint some graffiti together?” Mr. H said happily

  
  


Neku was then thrown into a state of shock, just staring at his role model, filled with excitement. Mr. H then noticed this and looked at Neku curiously but then laughed

  
  


“heh heh, come on now Neku, don’t tell me after all the time we’ve spent together _now_  is when you’re gonna get star struck?” Mr. H said smiling

  
  


Being sort of still in shock Neku then replied to Mr. H

  
  


“Huh?” Neku said conufused

  
  


He then scratched his head

  
  


“Oh…well…I…um...I’ve always wanted to spray graffiti with you CAT” Neku said bashfully

  
  


Mr. H then felt flattered again, happy that he means so much to Neku

  
  


“Heh, well if it helps, just see this as making graffiti with me, Sanae, and not me as CAT” he remarked scratching his head

  
  


Neku then smiled at Mr. H again

  
  


“Yeah…I think that’ll help a lot” Neku replied

  
  


They both smiled and laughed happy to be with each other. After that they then walked around the city eventually finding a legal wall. Neku then chuckled and snapped his fingers summoning spray paint cans in his hands.

  
  


He then shook the two getting ready to spray paint graffiti but when he pressed down on the nozzles, he and Mr. H looked shock as Neku gasped seeing lightning and fire come out of the spray paint cans. Neku then immediately lets go of the nozzles looking at Mr. H in shock.

  
  


“Sorry, I’m just so used to using graffiti, music, and anything else I can think of as a weapon so, I guess that’s why that happened” Neku said chuckling

  
  


Mr. H then smiled

  
  


“Don’t mention it Phones, it’s okay” he replied

  
  


“So are you gonna Tag the wall or Bomb it?” Mr. H asked

  
  


Neku then smiled looking at the fellow graffiti artist

  
  


“well I kinda want to bomb it, there’s this one form of graffiti I’ve seen being done on the internet, and I wanna try it” Neku explained

  
  


“Alright, well let’s see it” Mr. H said curious

  
  


Neku then nodded his head and got to work. He started off bombing the wall with the background making it pitch black. Due to how tall the wall is, he summoned Enlighten wings and flew to the parts that were too tall for him to reach normally. Once that was finished he then got to the ground and placed the spray paint can in his left hand on the floor.

  
  


He then summoned a rusty frying pan in his left hand, then he used his mind to make the spray paint become red. Then he spray painted a circle on the black background and placed the back of the frying pan on the wall and spray painted more red over the pan to make the color leak through.

  
  


Once Neku took the frying pan off, the rust added a texture creating the planet Jupiter

  
  


Neku then continued summoning different colors and various cups and pots to use to add other planets. Eventually Neku had made, Jupiter, Venus, Mecury, and Neptune. He didn’t want the art to look cluttered to he porously left out other planets.

  
  


Neku then placed the cup that was in his hand down and held out his left hand

  
  


“Focus” he muttered

  
  


He then blasted little drops of white paint all over the creation making stars, being sure to miss the planets. After that he used brown spray paint to create an island, also adding white to lighten it and make it more noticeable against the background.

  
  


He also added highlights to make the island look 3D. He then added grass at the bottom and mountains and a waterfall. Once he was done, Neku took a step back to admire his creation removing his Enlighten wings

  
  


Mr. H looked in awe, very impressed with Neku’s creativity

  
  


“So, what do you think?” Neku asked eager for Mr. H’s opinion

  
  


“Heh, you never cease to amaze me Phones” Mr. H replied

  
  


“this is incredible, you really proved how graffiti is art you know?” Mr. H said happily

  
  


“I mean look at this, this Spray Paint Art looks like it’s on Earth but…the sky is outter space. That’s so cool Phones, this really looks like it’s on a professional level. Infact, if this was smaller, say on a poster board, I could see this being sold in an art museum” Mr. H said proudly

  
  


“Aw snap! You…you really mean that?!” Neku said shocked

  
  


“You bet! You’ve got a real talent here Phones, you’re an amazing artist” Mr. H said happily

 

Neku then smiled back at him

  
  


“Yeah well, I don’t think I’ll be catching up to your level anytime soon” Neku said with his hand on his hip

  
  


Mr. H feeling flattered again, scratched his neck

  
  


“Heh you really know how to butter me up kiddo. You really got to give yourself some credit here, cause at this rate, I honestly think you’re gonna catch up to me” Mr. H said happily

  
  


Neku said then chuckled

  
  


“heh, heh, that really means a lot to me, coming from you” Neku said sincerely

  
  


Mr. H then smiled

  
  


“thanks Phones, I’m glad” he said happily

  
  


After that, the two artists went to anoher legal wall where they spray painted more graffiti together. Neku spray painted the Ghost Cat alongside Mr. H and they then compared the two.  
  
  
  
"So what do you think CAT?" Neku asked  
  
  
  
Mr. H then smiled looking at Neku's Ghost Cat then comparing it to his  
  
  
  
"This is really good Phones. the only things you gotta fix a little are the length of the whiskers and Bat wings on the Ghost Cat. they're a little short on your version" Mr. H explained  
  
  
  
Neku then compared the two and nodded his head  
  
  
  
"I see what you mean" Neku said smiling  
  
  
  
"So, you wanna try this again?" Mr. H asked  
  
  
  
"Heh, you know it" Neku said with a smug smile  
  
  
  
the two graffiti artists then smiled and laughed and spray painted more graffiti including Kanji. Neku then also spray painted his creation based off of the Ghost Cat called the Alley Cat.  
  
"Alley Cat huh? nice one Phones, though I feel like it's missing something" Mr. H said remarking on the creation  
  
  
"really? Like what?" Neku asked  
  
  
Mr. H then walked to the Alley Cat and added Neku's old Headphones on the cat but made them darkblue  
  
  
"What do you think? I think it looks better" Mr. H said smiling  
  
  
Neku thenc chuckled  
  
  
"yeah me too" Neku said smiling  
  
  
the then smiled and laughed and headed to Udagawa where Mr. H told Neku how he made the Tagmural.

  
  


“it’s actually kinda cool what you did cause it’s similar to how I first started the tag mural” Mr. H explained

  
  


“really?” Neku said eagerly

  
  


“Yup, I added the background first, then the Ghost Cat. After that I added the right half of the mural first, then the left half” Mr. H replied

  
  


“it took a total of nearly sixty spray paint cans to finish that” he added

  
  


“Sixty?! That’s…that’s insane! I mean damn…I…I knew it had to have taken a lot of work to make that Mr. H but…that’s just…so cool. How’d you pull that off without getting caught?” Neku asked with his left and outward as he smiled

  
  


“Heh, I’ll show ya” Mr. H said smiling

  
  


He then placed his hand on Neku’s shoulder teleporting them both to the Composer district. Once they opened their eyes Mr. H then generated blueishwhite Angel energy and uncloaked what looked like a house

  
  


“huh? Mr. H what’s going on?” Neku said a little unsure

  
  


“You’ll see, I’m gonna show you how I pulled off making the mural” Mr. H explained

  
  


They then walked into the house and Mr. H took him to his room

  
  


“Welcome to CAT’s headquarters, for real this time” Mr. H announced

  
  


Neku then looked around amazed how it was just like his hotel room in the Angels’ Game. It was a white room with his sketches and graffiti done in marker all hanging up on the walls of his room. Neku smiled as he saw what looked like earlier versions of of the Ghost Cat and CAT's slogan. he saw some that said "Enjoy your life" "Make your world free" and "Live your life"

  
  
he also saw an early version of the Ghost Cat being light gray with purple hands and red stars for eyes, as well as another early version where it was brown with blue arms and purple  stars for eyes  
  


“this is…so rad” Neku mumbled

  
  
As Neku looked around the room seeing sketches of the Ghost Cat as well as other graffiti sketches, he also stumbled upon what looked like a journal, it was black with the cover having a leather-like texture. As Mr. H was reaching for something inside of a drawer he saw Neku find this out of the corner of his eye. Since his journal is filled with his research and information only for the Higher Ups to read, he set up an imprint to electrocute anyone else who finds it with his Angel Energy.   
  
  
  
knowing how dangerous this is for Neku, as a mere human soul, and since the jolt of Angel-energy could deeply wound him, Mr. H stopped what he was doing to try to stop Neku from reading it  
  
  
  
Neku, who was now holding it in his hands heard Mr. H  
  
  
"Hey Phones, can you please not read that? it's very private" Mr. H said sternly  
  
  
Neku then placed the journal down and smiled  
  
  
"Sure thing CAT" he said smiling  
  
  
he then walked to the angel filling Mr. H with happiness making him smile as Neku walked towards him  
  
  
"I knew I could trust you" Mr. H thought happy to see Neku not take a peek  
  
  


Neku then walked towards the Angel to see Mr. H, who then reached into a drawer in his dresser and pulled out an old dark gray hoodie that would wear while doing his art at night

  
  


“This is how I pulled that off kiddo” Mr. H remarked handing it to Neku

  
  


He then held it gently in his hands

  
  


“Aw Snap!” Neku shouted  
  
  
  
"So...then this is...the earliest version of what you'd wear before you became CAT?" Neku said amazed

  
  


“Well, more like, when I first started out as CAT. Back then, no one really knew CAT as a graffiti artist, so I could hide in plain sight at night and not get caught. But when CAT started to get bigger, that's when I had to switch over to wearing a darkblue ski-mask with black goggles on me. That way no one would know who CAT is, or what he even looks like, or that I even was a "he". Back when I was a teen really getting into being CAT, I wore a baggy plain grayish blue shirt and black skinny-jeans kind of back then. but then I changed what I wore as an adult wearing baggy pants in addition to my hoodie and shirt. That way people wouldn't see me wearing the same clothes when I eventually get my CAT mask” Mr. H said smiling

  
  


“Heh, that's a really good plan. That, and the baggy clothes too, to sort of hide your body shape. That way no one would be able to tell that it's the same guy but with different clothes and masks on” Neku said looking Mr. H smiling

  
  


“Exactly Neku" Mr. H said smiling  
  
  
  
"Then once CAT started to get more accepted, that’s when I made the CAT mask and ran around wearing my baggy gray hoodie and baggy black pants. That way I could freely walk around the city but still have people not know who I am…well that and I tend to spray my graffiti early in the morning…like at dawn" he added  
  
  
  
"Yeah, it's the only way to not get caught you know?" Neku said with a smug smile  
  
  
  
picking up on Neku's thoughts Mr. H then chuckled a little  
  
  
  
"Go on Neku, I know there's something you wanna ask me" Mr. H said with a smirk  
  
  
Neku then chuckled and scratched his head a little shyly  
  
  
"Heh...it's just...I still can't get over how I'm finally with you Mr. Hanekoma...that you're CAT. There's so many things I wanted to ask him, or at least, when I only  _thought_  CAT was a 'him', back when I never really knew. So... well...when did you start making graffiti?" Neku said happily  
  
  
Mr. H smiled knowing how much his work means to Neku, and was happy to see how happy Neku felt  
  
  
  
"Well, when I first started out, I was 17 years old and I made graffiti late at night. That's also when only local graffiti artists knew me, cause I wasn't CAT back then, just a regular guy” Mr. H said scratching his neck

  
  


“geez no wonder people pretty much never see you make graffiti, doing that at night has gotta be tough. Don’t you ever get tired?” Neku asked

  
  


“Of course Phones. Eventhough I'm an Angel, I'm just a normal guy from Shibuya, just like you, so there are times where I have to take a break” he added

  
  


Neku then gave CAT the hoodie back and he placed it back in his drawer. Neku then sat in a chair in the room and asked him something

  
  


“So…since you're just a regular guy…I was just wondering, does that mean that you…you know, feel impulses? Like certain urges to do things?” Neku asked with his right hand outward

  
  


“Yup, back when I was in the RG a lot I kinda…got into gambling” Mr. H admitted scratching his neck

  
  


“What?!” Neku said surprised “But I always thought Angels were like some….embodiment of perfection, that you guys would never do something bad unless you were forced too!”

  
  


“Sanae...um…you know that Gambling just wastes a ton of yen right?“ Neku said with his right hand upward “Especially since you end up spending more Yen than earning more.”

  
  


Mr. H then chuckled

  
  


“Well yeah, Angels don’t do bad things unless we have no other choice but, I wasn't always an Angel remember? I was once just a normal guy, like anyone else. and just like you said, gambling ends up wasting a lot of money so I ended up stopping that little habit of mine. No need to worry” Mr. H said smiling

  
  


“oh, well that’s good then” Neku said also smiling

  
  


After that there was some silence as Neku gathered his thoughts

  
  


“Mr. H” Neku said “there’s something I wanna ask you”

  
  


Seeing how Neku had become more serious he did the same

  
  


“Sure what is it Phones?” Mr. H replied

  
  


“Well…with you being a Guardian and all, how do you fight when you run around wearing sandals? Especially since that’s not exactly the right footwear for combat” Neku asked

  
  


“heh good question. Although they don’t seem like it, these sandals are made for fighting. You see, when I made these I used my imagination to give the bottom of my sandals a harder, more firm texture, as if I was wearing sneakers. If necessary, I can change the texture and make it even harder, so it's like bashing a stone on someone's face” Mr. H explained

  
  


“seriously? Heh that’s so cool Mr. H” Neku said smiling

  
  


“I guess you’re just really good at making stuff huh? Even when you make headphones” Neku added happily

  
  


“heh you bet, I tried to make them work producing the best sound quality possible” Mr. H said happily

  
  


Neku then chuckled

  
  


“Sometimes I think you made ‘em a little too well” Neku added

  
  


“really? How so?” Mr. H said curiously

  
  


“well, the sound on those headphones was so clear, so intense that it had a huge boost in the bass making it really loud to the point it began to drown out the other instruments, but not the Treble sound. Heh heh, so I ended up having to adjust the sound of my MP3 to work with your headphones CAT” Neku replied

  
  


Mr. H then laughed

  
  


“man, I didn’t know that the sound would be that intense” Mr. H said smiling “I’m glad you liked them, but…I’m even more glad that you have friends now, and that you don’t use them to push people away anymore”

  
  


“Yeah me too” Neku added “I’m just really glad, that I met you…and that you’re still here, that you’re okay Mr. H”

  
  


“Huh? what do you mean Phones?” Mr. H asked as he sat down on his bed

  
  


Neku then clasped his right shoulder hating that awful, painful memory

  
  


“Back when…Anthony attacked you…the first time, back when…when we stumbled into that apocalyptic Shibuya…I…couldn’t take it. I couldn’t stand the fact that you were fighting him and getting hurt! When I hid behind some rubble in the city I…I remember feeling so nervous…knowing that you were in danger and…there was nothing I could do to help you! I  _wanted_  to fight back, I  _wanted_  to fight alongside you but...I just couldn't...my energy wasn't enough...and my mind wasn't either.” Neku said weakly

  
  


He then hid his face from Mr. H with his hands in his pockets again

  
  


“Then…when he ambushed me…I remember my feet getting stuck to the floor and everything blacked out. I opened my eyes and he started to beat the living crap out of me, and I felt my entire body ache to the point I felt tears go down my face…I…I knew right then and there…that I was about to die” Neku said grimly

  
  


“Hey where’s all this coming from?” Mr. H said worried

  
  


“Sorry” Neku replied “I don’t want you to worry about me”

  
  


“No, no it’s okay Phones. I can tell something’s bothering you. I don’t mind, really” Mr. H replied

  
  


“It’s just…I…I’ve always seen you as this incredible, amazing guy who to top it all off, is a normal guy who became this powerful, otherworldly creature, an Angel. I guess I always viewed you as…untouchable” Neku said sadly

  
  


Mr. H then hanged his head seeing where this was going

  
  


“To see you like that, to see the person that I always thought was unstoppable, this amazing and just…ridiculously powerful, otherworldly creature…being harmed…being broken, covered in scratches and seeing you scream in pain and seeing Anthony about to tear out your wings, I…I don’t like seeing that. I hate it” Neku said beginning to feel his eyes burn

  
  


“Mr. Hanekoma….CAT” Neku said weakly, trying to not let his voice break

  
  


“Phones?” Mr. H thought

  
  


“Rrrgh!” Neku snarled

  
  


He then stood up and screamed at Mr. H shaking his fist

  
  


“I don’t get it!” Neku roared causing Mr. H to look up at him startled

  
  


“Why does it have to be _you_?! Why is that  _you_  have to do all of that?! Why does everyone make you do everything for them?! THAT ISN’T RIGHT! Just because you’re a cool guy doesn’t give anyone the right to use you like that Mr. H!”

  
  


He then became so frustrated that he squeezed his hair

  
  


“What about what you want?! Doing what YOU want, how YOU want, when YOU WANT TO HUH?! WHY?! WHY DOES EVERYONE PUT SO MUCH ON TOP OF YOU?! YOU’RE NOT THE ONLY GUARDIAN ANGEL HERE! So what about YOUR LIFE?! WHAT ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT TO DO?!” Neku said enraged

  
  


“DID THEY EVEN CONSIDER THAT WHEN YOU BECAME A GUARDIAN?! DID THEY EVEN ASK?! YOU’RE A PERSON TOO! YOU HAVE YOUR OWN LIFE TO LIVE! I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU PROTECT THE CITIZENS OF THE HIGHER PLANE! And I understand that you  _chose_  to protect me, because you WANT TO PROTECT ME! BUT STILL! WHY?! WHY THE HELL DOES EVERYONE PUT SO MUCH STRESS ON YOU AND--

  
  


Neku then felt someone’s hand on his left shoulder while simultaneously filling him with warmth causing Neku to open his eye panting out of breath from yelling so much.

  
  


“I appreciate your concern for me and my well being Phones, more than you’ll ever know. You have no idea how seeing you get this angry over me makes me feel. I’m glad that you care this much but please don’t get so upset Neku” Mr. H said sincerely

  
  


“You know by now that intense emotions can make you lose control over your demon energy. I know my life always seems restless but it’s all part of the job” he added

  
  


“The reason why people put so much on top of me is because well…next to your Angel form, I’m the most powerful Angel in all of the Higher Plane...the only ones higher than us, are the Higher Ups. So of course people will rely on my power. Infact, the only reason that the same can’t be said for you is because you’re not really an Angel, you're a human Soul you know?” Mr. H said smiling a little

  
  


He then pulled Neku’s hands away from his head

  
  


“I know my life is hard, that it’s very busy but you don’t need to worry Neku. I’ve been doing this for many years, I’m use to it, and because of this I’ve learned how to balance out my life so I can have some free time. It’s okay, I promise it is. So please don’t get so upset over me” Mr. H said kindly

  
  


Neku then sighed placing his hands back to his side and turned away from the Angel with his hands in his pockets

  
  


“I…I don’t know what happened. I didn’t mean to get so angry like that. I just...I don’t know what came over me...Sorry” Neku said weakly

  
  


“Don‘t worry about it Phones. You sure you‘re okay?” Mr. H added “you usually don’t get angry like that. You’re pretty calm guy, the only times you really get mad are when you’re frustrated or annoyed,  _especially_  by a certain Composer we know”

  
  


Mr. H then chuckled and scratched his neck

 

“I guess in a way, I’m glad you got a little mad” Mr. H said smiling

  
  


“Huh? Why would you be glad?” Neku asked

  
  


“Cause it means you care Phones. If you didn’t care about me as a person and just saw me as some graffiti artist, or some random guy that you know then…I know you wouldn’t have reacted that way to my busy life. I’m glad that I’m more than just CAT to you, or more than just a Guardian to you…but that you genuinely care about me for who I am. It’s the same way I feel about you kid. You’re my friend, and I’ll always be there for you” Mr. H said happily

  
  


“Friends” Neku said weakly

  
  


Neku then turned to Mr. H and smiled back at him

  
  


“Heh heh…it’s still…a little weird saying that. Thanks…Mr. Hanekoma” Neku said shyly

  
  


Mr. H then patted Neku’s head

  
  


“Don’t mention it Phones” he said sweetly

  
  


After Neku reassured his friend that he felt better he then left Mr. H’s house and went back to the HP Shibuya since Mr. H said he had something he needed to do. He then went near Cat street to his house again clasping his shoulder as he walked

  
  


“Thank you…for everything. I’m glad that you’re a Guardian, cause you’re really good at it. You keep me safe, and you’re always there for me. You’ve done so much for me and I know I could never repay you but…thanks for all that you’ve ever done Mr. H…you’re amazing, don’t ever forget that” Neku thought

  
  


“You’re welcome, and you‘ve already repaid me, by just being you, and you’re pretty amazing too” Mr. H said telepathically making Neku smile


	37. A Normal Life

Neku continued to walk down near Cat street happy that he was able to spend time with Mr. H and he was also happy that he was chosen by Mr. H, that all this time the Guardian Angel was watching over him because he wanted him to be safe, that he liked him. Knowing this made Neku smile even more as he walked towards his house and remembered what Mr. H said telepathically…

 

_“You’ve already repaid me, just by being you and you’re pretty amazing too”_

_  
  
_

“I’m amazing?” Neku thought as he walked

 

“I know that my mind’s really powerful and stuff, and that that’s why I was able to harness so many Psychs and pins in the Reapers’ Game but…was it really just me? That it’s like what he said, that I’m…amazing?…I guess…I am…I guess….I’m…cool” Neku thought happily

 

He then approached his house on the first floor and phased through the front door and unbuttoned his shoes, sliding his feet out of each one and placed them at the entrance of the house and walked up the stairs to the second floor to his bedroom and got out markers to draw graffiti, and a piece of paper.

 

“Hmm, I kinda want to do this for real. Granted it’ll be a little messy but I can make any mess I make go away easily” he thought

 

Neku then placed the paper and marker down and closed his eyes, snapping his finger with his right hand, summoning a spray paint can. Neku then shook the can four times and imagined a poster board and started spray painting the background of his creation.

 

Meanwhile this was happening Shiki for once, wasn’t sewing, but taking a nice nap in her bedroom, filled with peace and relaxation. As she slept, she dreamt that she was flying over the city and sprouted Angel wings and saw Neku’s dragon form fly next to her left and Eri, Beat and Rhyme as Angels.

 

While she dreamed, Mr. Mew began to feed off of her desire indicated in the dream and walked around her house. The toy left her room and went down stairs to the first floor of the house and jumped up to the door with its stubby paws and pulled it open. Once the door was completely open, the toy dropped to the floor and left the house.

 

 

 

It then walked to Neku’s half of the house and jumped up and pulled the front door of Neku’s house open with its stubby paws (catching Neku’s attention as he watched TV in his room)

 

“Huh? Someone’s coming inside? But my friends know to at least knock first” Neku thought “As weird as it is, at least I know that it isn’t bad. It’s not a demon”

 

He then got out of his room and glided downstairs startled to see Mr. Mew running up the stairs moving one of its paws like it was waving hello

 

“hey piggy” Neku said waving his right hand

 

The toy then stood on the second floor and pointed its right paw at Neku with its left paw on its body

 

“Me? You want me to do something?” Neku said pointing at himself with his right hand

 

The toy then nodded its head and pointed out the door

 

“You want me to follow you huh? Alright, lead the way” Neku said smiling

 

The toy then ran down the stairs and out the door and waited for Neku. Once he glided out of the house the toy pointed at Shiki’s half of the house

 

“You want me to go to Shiki’s house? But then how come she didn’t just come get me?” he asked

 

Mr. Mew then laid on the floor and curled into a ball

 

“oh she’s sleeping…but…at the same time wants to hangout with me? That doesn’t make any sense” Neku said with his arms crossed

 

The toy then got up and nodded its head and pointed at Neku again then curled into a ball again

 

“It’s funny” Neku thought “it’s like I’m playing charades. So she’s asleep, and I have something to do with it”

 

He then crossed his arms again and Mr. Mew got up as Neku analyzed what he toy was trying to say

 

“and her piggy feeds off of what she thinks and feels, but at the same time has a mind of its own. So…does that mean that she’s…thinking about me? As a dream or something? Heh, yeah that’s gotta be it. That explains why her piggy went and found me” he thought again

 

“So, Shiki’s wanting to hangout with me, causing that desire to come to her as a dream? Making you want me to follow you? Is that it?” Neku asked Mr. Mew

 

The piggy then nodded its head

 

Neku then chuckled and smiled

 

“alright, let’s go pay her a visit” he said happily

 

The toy then clapped its paws together like it was happy that Neku had found the answer and ran to Shiki’s apartment with Neku gliding beside him again then Mr. Mew opened the door to her house and ran inside.

 

Not wanting to disturb her, he decided on watching TV in the living room, with the volume being low so Shiki could sleep. As she slept, she then woke up wondering where Mr. Mew went.

 

 

 

Remembering that the toy has a mind of its own in the Higher Plane, she walked around her house trying to find it. As she headed down the stairs she gasped, startled by Neku’s appearance.

 

“Neku? What’re you doing here?!” she said shocked

 

Neku nonchalantly turned his head towards her as he sat on the sofa in the living room

 

“Oh, hey there Shiki. Well, I was kinda brought here by you. I mean didn’t you want to see me?” Neku said smiling

 

“Huh? What’re you--

 

Neku then pointed to Shiki’s toy making her giggle

 

“Oh I guess that has to do with what I was dreaming about” Shiki said blushing a little

 

The toy then ran to Shiki and leaped on her shoulders. Neku, pretending that he didn’t figure out what it was chuckled as he stood up

 

“so…since your piggy reacts to what you think or feel causing it to have a mind of its own, then I guess what ever you dreamed about involved us hanging out right? I mean why else would your piggy come to me?” Neku said with a smug smile with his hand on his hip

 

Shiki then giggled

 

“right” she said smiling as she glided to him

 

She then glided down to Neku and stood in front of him causing him to then tell her his idea

 

“So um…I was wondering, since I’m here Shiki, do you wanna hangout still?” he asked smiling

 

Shiki then chuckled

 

“Sure Neku” she said smiling

 

“cool, but I was thinking we could change it up a little this time and hang out at Beat and Rhyme’s house. That is…if you don’t mind” Neku said smiling and left hand extending upward

 

“Heh that’s a great idea” Shiki said with her toy nodding its head

 

Neku then chuckled and gave her a thumbs up

 

“Sweet, then let’s go” he said happily

 

“yeah” Shiki said gleaming at him

 

The two spirits then glided out of the house and flew to Eri’s place asking if she wants to join them, she agrees and they all fly to Beat and Rhyme’s house.

 

As they did Neku asked them if they don’t mind, and they of course welcome Neku and friends to their home. They then fly towards the house and Neku tells them he’s here.

 

“cool come on in, guys” Rhyme said telepathically

 

Neku, Shiki and Eri look at each other and smile and then glide inside the house through the front door with Beat and Rhyme approaching them.

 

“sup guys, it’s been a while since we could this yo. It’s kinda cool” Beat said smiling

 

“tell me about it” Shiki added

 

They then landed on the ground and took off their shoes placing them next to Beat and Rhyme’s shoes. After that they all went to the living room just to hang out and talk. As they did this, Joshua was once again bringing humans to the afterlife and Mr. H was in his house working on his notes.

 

Once he added another entry he then left the house and sprouted Angel wings and flew to Joshua

 

“Hey Boss” Mr. H said as he hovered down to the ground standing next to the Composer

 

Joshua (once again in his true form) looked over to Mr. H and smiled

 

“hey there Mr. H, anything new?” Joshua asked

 

“Nope not really, I just added another entry to my notes that’s all” Mr. H said smiling

 

“So when are you gonna tell Shiki?” he added

 

Joshua’s smile then vanished and he crossed his arms

 

“Hmm, I’m not really sure yet, but I’ll do it soon” Joshua replied

 

Then Joshua and Mr. H then saw through their portal that Neku was with his friends, seeing this as a way to finally reveal the information to Shiki later on, Joshua goes to his human form and teleports to Beat and Rhyme’s apartment in front of the front door

 

As Neku and his friends relaxed they heard a knocking on the door causing Beat to walk to the front door and open it.

 

“Huh? Whatchu doin’ here Prissy boy? I thought you’d be bringing people to da afterlife yo” Beat said confused

 

Joshua then laughed and pulled back his hair

 

“Well I’ve already done that and decided to take a break that’s all” Joshua said slyly

 

Rhyme then approached the door

 

“Oh…well that’s good so come on in” she said smiling

 

Joshua then chuckled and Beat got out of the way and allowed the Composer to enter the house.

 

“Hey there Josh, we were just reminiscing about all the stuff that‘s happened, if you wanna join in” Neku said smiling

 

Joshua then sits down on the living room sofa with everyone else to Neku’s left and chuckled

 

“Sure I don’t see why not” Joshua said smugly

 

As they all relaxed, the HP Shibuya began to act more like the real thing causing it to be in the summer time

 

“heh, it sure has been crazy hasn’t it? Fighting demons, getting ourselves almost killed, fighting to save Neku from Clarissa, sometimes I still can’t believe we survived” Shiki said with Mr. Mew on her shoulder

 

Eri then hanged her head

 

“yeah…and how…the Soul Stealers almost killed Neku, and how they killed me. I can’t help but feel…like I didn’t do anything” Eri said sadly

 

“What? What’re you talking about?” Neku said sternly

 

“Eri, thanks to your training you’re as strong as Mr. H now, you’re as strong as the most powerful Angel in the Higher Plane. Do you really get what that means? Sure you haven’t been in the Higher Plane as long as I have, especially since I was here before any of you got here but…you’re not weak. You fought Soul Steelers too and killed them. You killed Demons on par with Anthony.” Neku said crossing his arms

 

Eri then raised her head

 

“You really think I’m strong?” Eri said shocked

 

Neku then smiled

 

“Well…yeah. The fact that you were willing to put your life at risk, to fight in my place in the Angels’ Game, the fact that you’re strong enough to kill Soul Stealers, it means that you’re really powerful. You don’t see it but…knowing that you were willing to put your life on the line to save me really says a lot you know?I’m glad that you’re my friend” he said sincerely

 

Eri then smiled

 

“thanks Neku that really means a lot” she said sweetly

 

“You know I still remember when you two first met each other outside the UG” Shiki said smiling

 

“Really? Heh, I remember that too” Neku said smiling

 

Neku then clasped his shoulder remembering that time feeling a little sad

 

“Sorry” he said weakly “I know it wasn’t so easy at first”

 

Eri then chuckled

 

“Yeah but I get it, I mean it was only a week since you guys had reunited with each other and on top of that, you guys were just getting used to the real Shiki. So seeing us together had to have been a little unsettling at first” Eri added

 

Neku then hid his face and his hands in his pockets again

 

“Yeah, it was hard for both of us, but still…I…I feel like it could’ve gone better” he said weakly

 

He then flashed back to when it was a few weeks after beating the Reapers' Game and how Shiki was unsure if Neku really liked her, or if it was Eri that he liked. She knows Neku said he likes her for she is, but she couldn't help but have her doubts. They were hanging out at Neku's house in his room and Shiki was talking about introducing him to her bestfriend, Eri, but as she did, he noticed she became sad causing him to be worried  
  
  
 _"Hm? Hey Shiki, is something wrong?" Neku asked starting to feel sad  
  
  
Shiki then hanged her head  
  
  
"It's just...I can't help but think about the Game, and all that we went through, it's still all so fresh in my mind." Shiki said weakly  
  
  
Neku then clasped his right shoulder knowing how hard it was  
  
  
"But all of that is over now, remember? You have your friend back, you have Eri. Isn't that what you wanted?" Neku asked  
  
  
Shiki then raised her head and looked at him  
  
  
"It is Neku, you're right but...  
  
  
Neku then looked at her sadly, seeing her eyes begin to water as she squeezed Mr. Mew_  
  
 _  
"I...I just sometimes wonder if what that Game Master from the first week said is true, if it'll never be enough...sometimes I still wonder Neku...if...if you really do like the real me?" Shiki admitted with heartache  
  
  
"Sometimes, I can't help but doubt it, I know that you said you like me for who I am but...you met HER, you saw HER, in the Reapers' Game, I was Eri...not me!" Shiki yelled  
  
  
Hearing Shiki admit that she doubted him filled him with a sense of heartache, like the didn't trust him, but yet, at the same time, could understand why she feels that way. This caused him to then hide his face in his collar and hands in his pockets  
  
  
"Shiki" He said weakly "I get it...I really do. We haven't known each other for very long after all, so it's no wonder you're doubting me but...do you really not trust me?"_  
  
 _  
Shiki then gasped not wanting to hurt Neku, thinking he may be taking it the wrong way  
  
  
"What?! No! it's not like that I just...You were with her, and not me, not physically. you saw her, stood with her, fought with her,  and I even pretended to be HER...not me...so how do I--  
  
  
she then saw Neku pull her close to him and she hugged him with him hugging her back. They stood still for a few seconds and the room was so quiet they heard each other's heart beats, as Shiki's eyes began to water  
  
  
"You feel that right?" Neku asked sweetly  
  
  
"Even if we were able to phase through the people of the RG, when we were in the Game, making us like ghosts, we still had this...what you're feeling right now. and it's cause of us beating the Reapers' Game that we can still hear that. That we're alive here, with our hearts beating. Isn't this what you fought for? To live again and be yourself?" the kind red head remarked  
  
  
she then gently pulled away from Neku and looked directly at him, paying attention to what he says  
  
  
  
"And you're right, that was Eri and not you, in terms of how looked and acted, when you finally dropped the act, that's when I really started to see you for who you are. That's when I started to realize that the girl I met before, was hiding, that it wasn't the real you. Don't be ashamed of how you look. You wanna know how I know I like you for who you are and not Eri?" Neku says sweetly  
  
  
"How? Shiki said shocked  
  
  
"It's cause back when you were being Eri, and not Shiki, I had a hard time being around you. I couldn't trust your kindness back then, and not just you, everyone. But then you showed me little by little that I could, like when you went to look for me in A-East when the stage was completely dark. Or how you got quiet towards the end of our week towards the last few days and gave up on trying to help solve our mission. You were so sad and ran away from me when I saw the other you, Eri in the RG." Neku said sincerely_

 

 

_"When you did that, I knew something was up, and that's when I learned the happy and cheerful girl I knew, wasn't that way at all. When you really think about it, I didn't really get to know you until towards the end of the first Week Shiki. The girl that became my friend, the girl that showed how alone and sad she really felt, was Shiki Misaki, not Eri." Neku answered back with a smile  
  
  
"You're the one who became my friend Shiki, not Eri. I don't really know her other then how you acted as her, but I do know you." He said sweetly letting her go  
  
  
"You really mean that?" Shiki said weakly  
  
  
  
"Count on it!" Neku replied smiling at her _ _again with his left hand upward and right arm upwards a bit_ _  
  
  
  
he then placed his right hand down to his side and left hand on his waist  
  
  
_ _"You're my friend and I can't imagine my world now without you, that's why I fought as hard as I could, so we could meet again at the Hachiko statue._ _No matter what happens, or what you look like, you'll always be Shiki." Neku replied  
  
  
"Neku...thanks" Shiki said with a smile  
  
  
"Don't mention it" Neku said sweetly_   
  
  
  
_A few weeks passed since that conversation and when they both felt ready, Shiki and Neku were walking to Eri’s house_

 

_“So Eri’s the one that we saw from the UG right? The one that you looked like back then?” Neku asked trying to remember_

_  
  
_

_“Yeah that’s her” Shiki replied_

_  
  
_

_Neku then looked down a little as they walked causing Shiki to stop walking making him stop too_

_  
  
_

_“Neku…you okay? I know how hard this must be for you since that was when I hated myself. I thought I was worthless. But you taught me that I wasn't, that you like me the way I am” she said sweetly_

_  
  
_

_“if you want we can wait a bit before you really meet her” Shiki added_

_Neku then raised his head and smiled at her_

_  
  
_

_“Thanks, Shiki but I’m ready…I know it’s gonna be hard. Even if we put this off you know? But I…I want to meet her. I mean she’s your friend right? So since I consider you my friend then everything should be okay” he said smiling_

_  
  
_

_Shiki then giggled_

_  
  
_

_“Okay, I’m glad you feel like you can handle_ it _” Shiki said smiling_

_  
  
_

_They then continued their walk and ended up at the front door of Eri’s house. Shiki looked back at Neku one more time and then knocked on the door_

_  
  
_

_“Hey Eri, we’re here_   _” Shiki said happily_

_  
  
_

_Eri then opened the door and greeted them_

_  
  
_

_“_   _Hey Shiki. So this is…Neku? Your Partner from the Reapers’ Game?” she asked_

_  
  
_

_Neku then looked at her and was filled with shock and flashed back to the UG_

_  
  
_

_“That Reaper was right! What I value most is ME!”_

_  
  
_

_“That’s why I’m SCARED! Scared of getting a second chance!”_

_  
  
_

_“Neku! That’s the first time you used my name”_

_  
  
_

_“When you see the real me, will we still be friends?”_

_  
  
_

_“Neku?” Shiki said worried tapping his shoulder_

_  
  
_

_He then hid his face in his funnel collar_

_  
  
_

_“Everything led back to her_   _” Neku thought “The fact that Shiki felt worthless, the fact that her body, her appearance, was her entry fee…the fact that Shiki became…the first person I felt like I could really trust…it…it all goes back to her friend, Eri”_

_  
  
_

_“S_   _hiki" Neku said weakly_

_  
  
_

_Eri then hanged her head a little sad but then raised it and smiled at Neku_

_  
  
_

_“Hey there’s no need to be so sad Neku, Shiki’s finally herself  again_   _” Eri said sweetly_

_  
  
_

_Neku then looked up at her and look back at Shiki_

_  
  
_

_“It’s like a before and after picture_   _”  he thought_

_  
  
_

_Neku then clasped his shoulder and his mouth from Eri_

_  
  
_

_“_ Sorry _” Neku said sadly_

_  
  
_

_Eri then looked at him empathetically_

_  
  
_

_“It’s okay Neku, Shiki told me everything. The first time I saw her. I thought it was a cruel sick joke. That, someone_   _was pretending to be Shiki just to mess with me. even though I have a ton of friends, I know people didn’t like her. So I thought that she was someone dressed up as Shiki to make fun of her and make her look bad” Eri said sadly_

_  
  
_

_“But then she told me everything and showed me one of her pins, and…she told me about how you helped her…and her entry fee. So, I can only imagine how hard it must be to see me…I…I’m sorry Neku” she added_

_  
  
_

_“What? Don’t be sorry” Neku said raising his head hiding his mouth while crossing his arms “cause if it wasn’t for you, then I would’ve never known how Shiki really felt, who she really is”_

_  
  
_

_Shiki then smiled at him causing him to look at her and smile back. He then hid his face in his funnel collar till only his bangs showed and his hands in his pockets and paused for a few seconds_

_  
  
_

_“I don’t know who the hell this person is! I…I can’t just GIVE her my trust I…can’t…but…learning to trust people…it means expanding your world to be happy. Thanks…Mr. Hanekoma…Thank you…CAT” he thought_

_  
  
_

_Still a little uneasy and only comfortable around his friends from the UG, he wasn’t sure what to do now, something that Shiki understood. ever since he expanded his world, he's willing to at least talk to people now and he at least smiles more and is more open to talking to them...though he still sometimes gets annoyed by people when he's not with his friends from the UG causing him to sometimes push people away making him think about his world begins with him._

_  
  
_

_“Neku? It’s okay…I mean, it’s only been a week since you left your headphones behind. We can try this again when you’re sure you’re ready” Shiki said sadly_

_  
  
_

_“I don’t know you…right now, you’re just a stranger but…you’re friends with Shiki so…I--_

_  
  
_

_Shiki then placed her hand on Neku’s shoulder_

_  
  
_

_“It’s okay Neku, I’ll be with you every step of the way_   _she said sweetly_

_Eri then smiled at him too_

_  
  
_

_“I know I'm just_   _a stranger Neku but please…don't_ _think of me as someone who would hurt you. I would never do that…I believe in being loyal to people, I believe in sticking by them no matter what. I know I ended up hurting Shiki, but I never meant to, honest! When I told her that she wasn't meant to be a designer, I meant that as in she's better at sewing, at actually bringing an idea to life, rather than designing it. Please…all I ask is that you give me a chance” Eri said firmly causing Shiki to let go of his right shoulder_

_  
  
_

_Neku then raised his face revealing only his eyes and nose still_   _hiding his mouth from Eri and extended out his left palm and had his right hand in his pocket_

 

_“It’ll take time to see what you say is true. Right now what you just said is nothing but words. I don't know you” Neku said sternly_

_  
  
_

_Eri then hanged her head filled with sadness_

_  
  
_

_“Trust…it’s something that takes time to build. I don’t know you, and right now I don’t trust you…but…learning to trust people…it taught me that…by letting strangers in, we can find new ways to be ourselves. Expanding your world means letting people in, to be happy” Neku said weakly_

_  
  
_

_“Neku" Eri said quietly_

_  
  
_

_She then raised her head and smiled at him and he raised his head and smiled at her._

_  
  
_

_“You’re right, it’ll take time so…how about we start now huh? That way, I can prove it to you” she said opening the door for him_

_  
  
_

_“yeah…thanks…Eri” Neku said weakly_

_  
  
_

_“heh, don’t mention_ it _” she said smiling_

_  
  
_

_Then Shiki and Neku walked inside Eri’s house making the flashback end_

_  
  
_

“Heh heh I know it was rough at first but…I feel like I’ve gotten to know you Eri. In a way, I'm kinda glad I never really met you until after the Reapers' Game cause, odds are back then I would've hated you. just like how I hated Shiki and how she drove me crazy during the first few days. so...I guess in away I did meet you, cause she was being you back then but, now I've really gotten to know you, I trust you, and I now know that you’re…my friend” Neku said smiling at her

 

Eri then smiled and laughed

 

“thanks…me too” she said back “You know I still remember when you would try to avoid going shopping with me unless Shiki was there”

 

Neku then scratched his head feeling awkward

 

“Really? Heh…I don’t even remember that” Neku said bashfully

 

He and everyone else then laughed, except for Joshua, who merely chuckled

 

“Damn…I still can’t believe it yo. That we’re all here man” Beat said happily

 

“Yeah we all have had a lot of close calls” Rhyme added

 

“tell me about it, Neku and I almost faced Soul Obstruction in Clarissa’s war” Shiki said chuckling

 

“Ah, yes I remember that. That's when you both nearly dissolved into your last layer of energy, skipping the second layer due to how weak you two were back then. it emerges when a soul has gone through a certain amount of growth" Joshua explained making Shiki hang her head  
  
  
"and don’t forget about when Neku was the Demon Lord of course” He added making her eyes water a little and then look up at everyone

 

“we really owe you for that one you know. If it wasn’t for you then…

 

Shiki stopped seeing Neku hang his head

 

“Sorry” Shiki said sadly

 

“No…it’s okay. Really…in a way, being a Demon Lord was kinda cool” Neku admitted

 

“What?! Neku how can you say that?!” Shiki roared

 

He then raised his head seeing his friends look at him concerned

 

Neku then scratched his head

 

“Well, they’re not called Demon LORDS for nothing, you’re basically like royalty when you have that status. You have maids who pamper you, servants, bodyguards, your own fortress, and your assistant, who's second in command and who’s willing to do anything you tell him. Plus, if I was a Smorzando demon, I could even command Soul Stealers, and maybe even command an army of them if I wanted too.” Neku explained

 

“Oh…well when you put it that way it DOES sound kinda cool” Shiki admitted

 

“But I’m glad it’s all over” Neku said smiling

 

“heh me too” Shiki said smiling

 

“well while we’re still reminiscing, I’d like to add that you should be more grateful for my help, especially you Neku” Joshua said with a smug smile

 

“Oh really?” Neku said crossing his arms

 

“Yes really. After all, you remember my second test right Neku?” Joshua said slyly

 

Neku then placed his hand on his right shoulder and closed his eyes

 

“Remember? How can I forget it Josh?” he said weakly “I mean…it’s not everyday you get nearly killed being shot in the shoulder”

 

“Hmm, well that’s putting it lightly. Anyways I was going to tell you that if it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t really be able to wear your yellow wristband anymore if you catch my drift” Joshua said with his hand on his chin

 

Neku then gasped

 

“What? What’re you trying to say?” Neku said nervously

 

“Well…the shoulder has a lot of nerves and if I hadn’t had slowed down the bullet and let it go full speed into your shoulder it could’ve done so much damage that the surgeons wouldn’t have been able to save you” Joshua said slyly

 

Neku then looked at Joshua horrified

 

“You mean I…I would’ve…died? But you already told me that in the hospital. What’re you trying to say?” Neku said weakly

 

Joshua then pulled back his hair and laughed

 

“They wouldn’t have been able to repair your shoulder Neku. If the bullet went too deeply into it, it could’ve destroyed certain nerves and other vessels inside it” Joshua answered

 

“My…my shoulder would’ve…I would’ve been…

 

He then feels Shiki place her hand on his right hand and gently squeezes it, making him look at her

 

“Neku…what really matters is that you’re okay now” Shiki said sweetly

 

“Yeah…thanks” Neku said smiling

 

At that moment they all noticed how it was getting hotter in the house feeling like it’s 80 degrees. As the HP Shibuya went to the season of summer, Mr. H was taking a break as well. He was in his house when he had an idea

 

“Well…everything’s a lot more peaceful now. I’m finally able to relax” he thought as he drank coffee in his office

 

He then placed the coffee cup down, adds another entry in his notes, and then walked to the first floor of his house and walked out the door.

 

“heh, it’s been a while since I was this age, thanks to my Angel abilities, I should be able to do it” he thought

 

Mr. H then snapped his fingers altering his human form’s appearance as a sort of surprise for Neku and teleported to Beat and Rhyme’s house. As Neku and his friends talked about how they’re all glad they all survived, they all heard a knock on the door.

 

Neku then smiled and glided over to the door knowing that the only person missing from his group of friends was Mr. H. he then placed his feet on the ground from gliding and then opened the door startled to see a young boy. Shiki and everyone else approached the door startled by this stranger.

 

“Hey there Neku” he said smiling

 

Neku then approached the door startled at first due to knot knowing who it is.

  
  
  
"Huh? um...Do you need something?" Neku said trying to greet the person

  
  
  
this then made the young boy chuckle a little bit. He had short, choppy,  blackish gray hair with a light touch of brown. It was very messy with many layers and was also down to his neck. He wore a baggy gray shirt, Bluesh gray skinny jeans, a belt almost exactly like Neku's minus the square belt buckle, and gray shoes with two dark gray straps, with a wing sort of logo on the sides of them and blue for the bottom of the shoes.

 

 

He then smiled and placed his right hand on his neck and extended his left hand outward, a certain gesture Neku remembers seeing.  Shiki went up to him with a suspicious Mr. Mew crossing its paws as it sat on her shoulders.

  
  
  
"heh, I guess it is kind of hard to tell who I am right?" the boy said happily

  
  
  
"Aw snap! you mean you're...but how? you're...Mr. H? You're Sanae?" Neku said shocked

 

  
  
  
"Sure am. I figured I'd use my angel abilities to sort of turn back the clock and be a teen again, like you guys" Young Mr. H replied

 

  
  
  
"wait, really? yeah it's gotta be you. Mr. H's so powerful as an Angel, it'd only make sense that he could manipulate time to reverse his age like that" Neku said smiling

 

  
  
  
Young Mr. H then placed both hands in his pockets and laugh, another Mr. H gesture

 

  
  
  
"You really know how to butter me up Phones" he said happily

 

  
  
  
"that's totally like him!" Shiki thought surprised  
  
  
  
Even his voice is higher in this form making him even more like a teenager in this form. Neku then chuckled happy to see Mr. H wanting to hangout with him again as he welcomed Mr. H into the house, though Beat, Rhyme and Eri wasn't fully convinced

 

“Well…the hair sorta and face sorta looks like him yo. But you ain’t Mr. H. How we know you ain't jus' sayin' that? you some Composer yo?” Beat said with his hand on his shoulder

  
  
  
"Yeah, after all the things Neku's gone through with Demons, it doesn't hurt to be suspicious" Rhyme said hanging her head

 

  
  
  
"Are you sure it's okay Neku?" Eri said worried

 

 

  
Understanding their concern for Neku, Young Mr. H then placed his left hand outward again and right hand on his neck smiling

 

 

“Guys, it really is me, I'm the one who was guiding you in The Reapers' Game, it’s me Mr. H” he said chuckling

 

 

  
That information was then the dead give away for the others

 

 

“HUH?!” Rhyme and Eri exclaimed

  
  
"BWAAAAAAH!" Beat roared

 

 

Neku then chuckled

  
  
"This is just a little surprise I wanted to do, that's all" Mr. H added

 

 

“Oh, that makes sense” Shiki said smiling with Mr. Mew nodding in agreement

 

 

They then welcomed Mr. H into the house and they all sat on the couch together.

 

“So…what do we call you when you’re like this? I mean…usually we see you in your adult form, But we do still already know you” Shiki said thoughtfully

 

Mr. H then crossed his arms and thought for a little

 

“Exactly, and since I see you all as friends, just call me Sanae” Mr. H said smiling

 

Shiki and everyone else then smiled

 

“Okay then, Sanae” Shiki replied

 

After talking for a bit, all reminiscing about how they all survived, Neku asked Eri if she could ever forgive him for killing Ai and Mina when he was Damien.

 

“Eri” Neku said clasping his shoulder

 

“yeah what’s wrong Neku?” she said noticing how serious he became

 

“it’s just…I did a lot of bad stuff when I was a Demon Lord and I killed so many spirits. My memory of that time’s gotten a little better…and I remember that I did something…awful. I…I killed some of your friends Eri. I killed Ai and Mina” he said sadly

 

Eri then hanged her head filled with sadness that he was that out of control

 

“I’m sorry” Neku said weakly

 

“Neku” she said raising her head to him “you don’t need to apologize. That wasn’t your fault. I would never hold that against you”

 

He then looked at her in shock

 

“what?” Neku said in disbelief “You really mean it?”

 

“yeah, that was never you Neku. That was the demon energy” Eri said sweetly

 

Mr. H then nudged Neku’s left arm and smiled at him

 

“that’s all in the past now, so you don’t need to worry. None of us hold what you did as a Demon Lord against you. You were being controlled by Clarissa that whole time Neku. Enjoy the moment, and don’t worry cause that’s not you anymore” Sanae said smiling

 

Neku then smiled back at him and then at Eri

 

“thanks guys” he said shyly

 

Eri then giggled

 

“heh don’t mention it”

 

“Um…am I the only one who’s noticed how hot it is? Shiki said curious

 

It then got  a little hotter

 

“geez man, it feels like it’s summer time yo. Phones are you doin’ this some how?” Beat asked

 

“nope, I made this version of Shibuya to be like the real thing so…I guess it’s summer time now in the RG” Neku said smiling

 

Rhyme then went and turned on the air conditioning, but everyone still felt hot, it was very humid in the air

 

Beat then let’s out an exhausted sigh

 

“Damn, it’s getting really hot yo. I’m gonna go take care of somthin’ and be right back” Beat said smiling

 

His friends said they’d all hangout and get some snacks while he was gone

 

Beat feeling VERY hot went to his room and took off his shirt, including the red one underneath his white tank top and then went to the bath room. After he was done he then washed his hands and walked back to the living room, startling a few of Neku’s friends.

 

He then went to the kitchen and got out a glass of water, took of his hat and poured it down his head making the water roll down his bright blonde hair as it shined gold in the sunlight and causing water drops to roll down his body making Shiki and Eri gaze at Beat’s six pack, making Rhyme giggle

 

“R-Rhyme…why…is he…doing that?” Shiki mumbled

 

Rhyme then sighed

 

“he always does this when it’s really hot to sort of cool down. I’m used to it” she explained

 

Neku, Sanae and Joshua then all looked at Eri and Shiki in shock as they began to blush. The two girls watched as the water drops went down Beat’s abs making them blush even harder turning bright red

 

“H-Hey, Shiki…what’s up with you?” Neku said shocked

 

Joshua then chuckled and crossed his arms

 

“Don’t tell me you’re jealous Neku” Joshua said with a smug smile

 

“J-Jealous?!” Neku shouted at him in shock

 

Neku then shook his fist at him

 

“Rrrgh! Cut the crap man! I-I’m not jealous! It’s just that, now it’s like we don’t exist and--

 

“oh so you don’t like that they’re suddenly not paying attention to you? Hee hee” Joshua said pulling back his hair

 

“Hey! It’s not like that!” Neku yelled

 

Finding this amusing even Mr. H joined in

 

“are you sure Phones?” Sanae added

 

Neku then looked at him in shock

 

“what?! Not you too!” Neku roared

 

“Heh, hey ease up, I was only kidding” Sanae said smiling

 

They then looked back at the girls and Beat to look at the scene unfold

 

“man this is weird” Rhyme thought

 

Mr. H then chuckled

 

“Is it normal for girls to blush this hard at a boy? Heh heh, I guess so. I guess they’re both…attracted to Beat” Sanae thought

 

Hearing that thought made Neku look at Mr. H in shock making Sanae scratch his head

 

“well it’s true” he added

 

The girls then leaned in closer towards the edge of the sofa staring at Beat’s abs

 

“six of them…he has a six pack” Eri thought

 

“he’s soooo muscular! I…I think he may be even cooler than the Prince!” Shiki thought

 

Beat then looked at them in shock

 

“BWAAAAH!” he roared “How come you two starin’ at me yo?!”

 

Shiki then stared at the abs to the point she didn’t even blink

 

“Uh…I uh…um” Shiki mumbled

 

“H-Hey! Shiki, Eri, we’re here too you know!” Neku said looking at her shocked causing Sanae and Joshua to look at him with a smug smile

 

“Uh-huh” Shiki mumbled again

 

Neku then blushed feeling very awkward and hid his face in his collar and hid his hands in his pockets

 

“Beat” he said quietly

 

“Bro” he said a little louder

 

Neku then raised his head and stood up as he shook his fist

 

“BRO! WOULD YOU  _please_  PUT A SHIRT ON?!” Neku roared

 

“BWAAAAH! Bro what’s wrong man?! Why you yellin’ Phones?!” Beat shouted

 

Neku then sighed and face palmed

 

“Beat…you’re really buff man, you’re muscular and stuff…girls find that…hot” he said a little annoyed

 

Beat then looked at him in shock

 

“BAWAAAAAH! SO  _THAT’S_ WHY THEY’RE LOOKIN’ AT ME ‘N STUFF?!” Beat shouted

 

He then clasped his shoulder and looked down

 

“Sorry yo I didn’t know man” Beat said shyly

 

“Neku…it bothers you that they were blushing at him doesn’t it? Do you feel that you’re not attractive?” Joshua said chuckling

 

Neku then crossed his arms and sighed looking up at him though hiding his mouth

 

“Josh, just cause I’m skinny doesn’t mean that I’m not…

 

Neku then blushed and hid his face in his funnel collar and hands in his pockets again

 

Mr. H, seeing how awkward things were intervened

 

“hey um…Beat could you use your mind to put your shirts on bud? It’s kinda awkward seeing this you know?” he said scratching his neck

 

“Oh, sure Coffee Man, er…Sanae” Beat chuckled

 

Beat then closes his eyes and imagined his shirts back one causing them to appear on him and wore his hat again causing Shiki and Eri to be snapped out of their trance. He then opened his eyes to see them sighing along with Neku

 

“well…while we’re still on the topic of awkward things I feel like something needs an explanation. Wouldn’t you say Neku?” Joshua said crossing his arms

 

“Huh? What’re you talking about?” Neku said also crossing his arms

 

“Those alternate realities. Can you think of anything that felt..off?” Joshua explained

 

Neku then scratched his head

 

“well there were a few things that come to mind…like that Noise reality that had all the Noise we had ever erased there. There were a few Noises that seemed familiar and-

 

Neku then remembered what stood out about that reality

 

“Hey guys” Sanae intervened “I’m a little thirsty, be right back”

 

He then went to Beat and Rhyme’s kitchen and made coffee. He then walked back to the sofa and sat down and began to drink it

 

 

Neku then chuckled

 

"So um...before I ask my other question...I was kinda hoping you could do something pretty rad and...show me what you looked like when you first started out as CAT. If you don't mind that is" he said while scratching his head

 

Seeing how much this meant to him, Sanae smiled and  stood up, followed by snapping his fingers. They see the 15 year old boy grow much taller and look closer to how his adult self looks, but with more messy hair, the same gray old hoodie he showed Neku earlier, along with a darkblueish gray backpack storing his spray paint cans, and wearing an almost black belt with white studs, dark gray skinny jeans with three holes on the right leg, and converse shoes.

 

"well, this is me when I was in my late teens starting out as CAT. Heh, it's been a while since I looked like this" Sanae added scratching his head

 

"heh you look really cool Sanae" Shiki said smiling

 

"thanks" Sanae said with a laugh

 

"what's up with the patch on your shoulder though?" Eri asked

 

"Oh that? well, this hoodie is sort of old and began falling apart, yet I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it, so I had a patch added to it. I think it looks cool" he said smiling

 

Eri then giggled

 

"Well, it's not my style, but it totally looks good on you" She siad happily

 

"That's saying something from such a fashion expert like you" Sanae said happily

 

 

they both then giggled and Late Teen Sanae then sat back down and took off his book bag to drink his coffee

 

“Soooo CAT how come in that Noise dimension, there were two Noises that you transformed into when you fought that other me?” Neku said with a smug smile with his hand on his hip

 

Sanae then sets down his coffee

 

“what do you mean Neku?” he asked

 

“You know, that one reality where you found Joshua, after he faked his own death teleporting to another reality” Neku clarified

 

“Oh yeah! That’s the one that the boss nicknamed: Another Day. Seeing it as another life for Shibuya. I remember now. That’s when I challenged the Another Day you to a battle where I focused Noise energy into two separate Angel feathers, making them become the color of each Noise” he exclaimed

 

Sanae then sipped his coffee again

 

“I honestly had no idea it’d work, that was the first time I ever became a Noise” he added

 

He then sipped his coffee again

 

“Well then how come one of them…was a girl?” Neku asked

 

He then instantly spits out his coffee

 

“WHAT?!” he shouted

 

“I didn’t know one of them was a girl!” he said shocked

 

“yeah one of the Noise looked like Konishi’s Noise form” Joshua added

 

Sanae then scratched his head

 

“Well…that’s weird. So…I became a girl huh? That’s…kinda interesting” he said shyly

 

“tell me about it” Shiki added

  
  
feeling extremely hot, Neku closed his eyes and opened them again recreating his V-neck shirt Shiki made him, making his MP3 hang around him like a necklace and then snapped his fingers creating a bottle of water and began drinking it.

  
  
  
Shiki and Rhyme both changed their shirts too, with Shiki removing her green shirt, revealing the black one that covered her upper arm and then closed her eyes and opened them making her shirt become a short sleeved shirt. Rhyme did the same thing too  
  
  
Neku then drank some more water and then placed took it away from his mouth.  
  
  
"Damn it's so hot. I wonder if there's a way to alter that" Neku said curiously  
  
  
Shiki then chuckled  
  
  
"Well you did make this version of Shibuya so, I don't see why not" she said smiling  
  
  
Neku then chuckled   
  
  
"yeah, you're right" he said smiling   
  
  
he then placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes making the intense heat go away and opened his eyes again.This then caused everyone to have their normal clothes again. Rhyme then thought about wanting to play Tin Pin Slammer and mentioned it to Neku and the others. Seeing this as a VERY good idea, they all took turns playing with Neku winning nearly every match. After that, Joshua then had a certain question to ask Neku.

 

 

“Say Neku. Would you let me analyze your demon form?” he said with his left hand by his head

 

“analyze?” Neku said with his left hand’s palm facing upward and right hand in his pocket

 

“Yes, you see the only time a Demon is ever this close to me or Mr. H is when they’re fighting us. Well that, and when we interrogate them. So…I was wondering…

 

He then generates a knife in his right hand

 

“if you would let me, do some things to see how a Demon’s body works so to speak, what make them tick” he said chuckling

 

“What?!” Neku said in shock

 

Sanae then chuckled smiling at how the situation was funny

 

 

 

To be continued…


	38. Demon Analysis

Filled with much concern, Neku’s other friends then all added that they don’t think that Joshua should go through with his idea. Regardless of how Sanae tried to reassure them, they call felt a little nervous seeing Joshua with a knife.

  
  


The angel then chuckled saying that Joshua made a valid point, they’re never able to be this close to a demon without them trying to attack them. Still trying to get the point across Joshua then added into the conversation.

  
  


“So you’re saying you  _don’t_  want us to learn more about Demons through analysis and you  _don’t_  want the Higher Plane to be even safer from them by doing so, and you _don’t_  want us to further our research? Do you not care for our safety?” Joshua said chuckling twirling his hair with his left hand

  
  


Neku then clasped his shoulder again feeling sad at the thought of Joshua and Mr. H getting hurt again because of him

  
  


“No…it’s not like that” Neku said weakly “if doing this will help the Higher Plane in the long run then, I guess I’m up for it. I’m in Josh”

  
  


“Oh, no you don’t” Shiki intervened making a shocked Neku look at her “not if this little analysis ends up hurting him” Shiki said crossing her arms

  
  


“Oh what ever do you mean Shiki?” Joshua said slyly

  
  


“the knife” she said crossly

  
  


“Shiki, demon skin is stronger than human skin. So this wouldn’t even really hurt him” Joshua said reassuringly

  
  


Sanae then got up and stood next to the other friends

 

“Don’t worry guys. It’s not like any of this is gonna hurt him. If it was dangerous there’s no way I’d sit hear and let Neku go through with this” he added

  
  


Neku then looked at him and smiled

  
  


“thanks” he said  to the angel

  
  


“heh, don’t mention it” Sanae said rubbing his neck

  
  


“Now then” Joshua said making Neku face him “Let’s get started”

  
  


Joshua instructed Neku’s other friends to stand back so they could all obverse Neku too. The two boys then stood next to each other with Joshua now holding the knife upward.

  
  


“You see, Demons are very powerful creatures. As beings of the afterlife, they can withstand wounds that would kill a human” Joshua said slyly

  
  


“like so…

  
  


Joshua then stabs Neku in the chest, making him wince a little

  
  


“see? Nothing to it. Now how do you feel Neku?” Joshua asked

 

  
  
“well…it really didn’t hurt that bad, it was kinda like a bee sting” Neku explained

  
  


“Hmm, interesting. So then how about here--

  
  


Joshua then stabbed Neku’s stomach making his friends (aside from Mr. H since he know better) to look at him concerned

  
  


“Anything different? Did the pain increase?” Joshua asked

  
  


“Nope, it’s about the same” Neku replied

  
  


“Whoa, I guess he wasn’t kidding huh? That’s really cool, it’s like your demon skin protects you Neku” Eri said smiling

  
  


“yeah sure seems like it” Neku said smiling

  
  


“Now then, Neku I want you to now do stab your own stomach with your claws to see if we get a different result” Joshua instructed

  
  


“alright” Neku answered

  
  


Sanae watched carefully and telekinetically added another entry to his journal on Demons and their anatomy in his house updating it with Joshua’s knife test.

  
  


A little hesitant at first, Neku then poked his stomach with his pointer finger, causing his demon claw to stab it.

  
  


“Nnngh!” he grunted while then pulling out the claw

  
  


“interesting, so demon claws can tear through demon skin more efficiently then a knife. I honestly thought that use to happen to you merely because of how you fight demons that are stronger than you. But apparently that’s just how demon claws are” Joshua said with his left hand on his chin

  
  


“You sure you’re okay?” Rhyme said worried

  
  


“Sure am, don’t worry about your bro Rhyme. I’m fine” he said reassuringly making her giggle

  
  


“Now let’s try something else” Joshua said snapping his fingers making his knife disappear

  
  


“like what?” Neku said crossing his arms

  
  


“I’m starting to wonder if this is really gonna benefit the Higher Plane or not. Did Joshua just trick me?” Neku thought

  
  


“This” Joshua said teleporting Neku’s katana to himself.

  
  


He then unsheathed it and poked Neku’s left shoulder with it

  
  


Poke…poke, poke

Joshua then wore a smug smile and chuckled

  
  


Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke--

_  
  
_

Annoyed Neku then smacked the sword away from the Composer making it teleport back to his house

  
  


“You just love to mess with me don’t you Josh?” Neku said crossing his arms

  
  


“Well, that wouldn’t be too far from the truth…hee he” he said pulling his hair back

  
  


“So how did that feel Neku?” Joshua asked

  
  


Neku then lets out a frustrated sigh

  
  


“well it felt like getting one of those shots when you go to the doctor, except that this said doctor was an annoying little snot who’d purposely put the needle in me over and over” Neku said with his left hand by his head and right hand on his waist

  
  


Shiki and Eri then giggled at that comment

  
  


“it sounds like a really annoying check up huh Neku?” Eri added

  
  


“yeah, definitely” Neku added with his left hand on waist with a smug smile

  
  


“Well that’s interesting” Sanae thought adding another entry “So, demon skin in nearly impenetrable with the acception of their own claws, or when energy burns through it. Heh, that would explain why they’re such worthy opponents and hard to defeat”

  
  


“So now what?” Neku asked the composer

  
  


“well, I want to further study a demon’s body so…could toy say ‘Ah’ for me?” Joshua said with  a smug smile with his hands in his back pockets

  
  


“ah? Oh…you mean opening my mouth. I don’t know what you’re up too Joshua, cause this feels more like your just screwing with me” Neku said sternly

  
  


“well to be fair Neku, I’ve been taking notes on this as Joshua was messing with you” Sanae said smiling

  
  


“you were?” Neku asked

  
  


The Angel then snapped his fingers teleporting his journal to him. Neku then noticed that this one was brown and not the black one Mr. H didn’t want him to touch back when they hanged out together at his house

  
  


“Yeah see, these are my newest entries on Demons and their anatomy” Sanae said smiling

  
  


“whoa…just how many volumes of that are there CAT?” Neku asked

  
  


Sanae then placed his hand on his chin not sure of how many there were

  
  


“Hmm, well considering I’m immortal and I’ve been doing this for many millenia Phones, I’d say there are roughly…over a trillion volumes so far. Each one in a different journal” he said nonchalantly

  
  


Neku and friends then looked at the Angel in shock

  
  


“Geez that’s a lot of writing” Shiki said astonished

  
  


“You said it, but it’s thanks to that research that we learned so much about them” Sanae added

  
  


Joshua then chuckled

  
  


“Now then, back to the next part of my analasis, can you open your mouth as wide as you can Neku?” Joshua asked

  
  


Neku then crossed his arms looking at Joshua a little suspicious and then sighed

  
  


“You’re lucky CAT’s here or else I wouldn’t go along with this so easily” he said sternly

  
  


Neku then opened his mouth

  
  


“Ahhhhh” he exclaimed

  
  


“There happy?” Neku said mentally

  
  


“I suppose so, now let’s see here” Joshua exclaimed

  
  


Joshua then walked closer to Neku chuckling, something that made him feel a little nervous

  
  


“As you all can see” Joshua said pointing to Neku’s shark teeth “Demons have very sharp pointy teeth and they are very numerous. Also just like with humans, Angels, us Death Gods and Reapers, no two Demons are alike causing them to all vary in teeth and claw length”

  
  


Joshua then inched his pointer finger closer to Neku’s mouth rubbing his finger beneath one of Neku’s teeth

  
  


“their teeth also feel rather prickly, like needles” he added “However…

  
  


He then began pulling one of Neku’s teeth, making his eyes widen as he squeezed Joshua’s arm with both hands

  
  


“What the hell are you doing?!” Neku said mentally “I thought this was a Demon analysis not a visit to the Dentist!”

  
  


“Just a little longer, stop moving your head away from me Neku” Joshua said out loud

  
  


“No! Screw you! And screw your method of analyzing the enemy! You’re crazy Josh! How’s this gonna--

  
  


Before he could even finish that thought, he felt Joshua pull so tightly that one of his teeth was yanked out

  
  


“Nngh!” Neku grunted with his hands clasped over his mouth

  
  


“Dammit!” he thought “it felt like he actually squeezed my tooth! Ugh, something tells me this is fun for him”

  
  


He then unclasped his mouth and was about to yell at Joshua when he felt something tingle. Neku’s friends then all watched shocked to see a tooth grow replacing the one Joshua removed.

  
  


“interesting, so Demon teeth regenerates the same away angel feathers do. And apparently removing a tooth makes some demon energy leak out” Joshua said remarking on the four black orbs that were flying out of Neku’s mouth

  
  


“So…how much did that hurt Neku?” Shiki asked worried “You know, on a scale from one to ten?”

  
  


Neku then crossed his arms

  
  


“I’d say about a four” he said smiling a little

  
  


“Really? Heh cool, I’m glad you’re able to handle pain Neku” she said smiling

  
  


“yeah, same here” he added

  
  


“Now then, let’s see what female demons are like…hee hee” Joshua said while pulling back his hair

  
  


Neku then immediately looked at the Composer in shock and then blocked Shiki away from him

  
  


“Don’t even think about it!” Neku roared shaking his fist “Since I know how messed up you are, there’s no way I’d let you do an analysis on her!”

  
  


Joshua then chuckled with his hands in his pockets

  
  


“What’s wrong Neku? I thought we were friends” he said slyly

  
  


Neku then gasped and then looked at Joshua in shock flashing back to Joshua’s dying words

 

“I know now, that you’re…my friend”

_  
  
_

He then hanged his head and placed his hands in his pockets

  
  


“Yeah…we’re friends. But…you’re a God Joshua. I just don’t want this to get out of control. I mean, what if during the analysis you accidentally hurt her? Shiki…no, all of them, are my friends. Including you so…I don’t want you guys to get beat up or wounded ever again” he said weakly

  
  


“Neku?” Eri said concerned

  
  


Neku then closed his eyes fighting back tears building up

  
  


“Abandonment is apart of your world. In the end, friends are nothing more than an illusion”

_  
  
_

“They’re all apart of my world. I…I’ve got friends now. For the first time in my life I feel…something more. As if, I’m apart of something greater. I have people that care about me, not just my mom and dad anymore. All of them, they’ve all helped me reach out to people in the past, and in the present were willing to put their lives at risk...for me. Someone they’ve only just gotten to know” he thought filled with sadness

  
  


“I can’t lose that…ever”

  
  


He was about to speak but Neku felt someone nudge him in the arm causing him to look up seeing that person smile at him.

  
  


“be happy” Sanae imprinted

  
  


Neku then just couldn’t help but smile back, happy to see CAT comforting him.

  
  


“Don’t worry, nothing’s gonna happen to her, that’s a promise” Sanae said smiling

  
  


Shiki then stood up and walked up to Joshua standing in front of Neku and smiled at him

  
  


“we’ll help make the Higher Plane safer Neku, so I don’t mind doing this” she said sweetly

  
  


She then snapped her fingers becoming her demon form making Neku chuckle

  
  


“Heh, well if you’re really okay with it, then I guess I don’t have to worry” he said sweetly causing Shiki to chuckle

  
  


Joshua then smiled a little

  
  


“as touching as this little moment is, we should get started now” Joshua added

  
_  
_

Neku and Shiki then looked at each other then back at Joshua becoming more serious causing Mr. H’s young human form to back on the sofa and continue writing notes on what he sees.

  
  


“Alright, first I want to see if there’s a difference in the bodies of male and female demons” Joshua said crossing his arms

  
  


“What do you mean?” Shiki asked

  
  


“Well I want to see if you and Neku could shoot energy at each other to see how the two different demon energies clash against each other” Joshua explained twirling his hair

  
  


 

 

“Oh…okay then” Neku said smiling at Shiki

  
  


He then took a few steps back and created an orb of his demon energy and Shiki smiled and made an orb of her energy too they then fired their orbs at each other causing sparks of purplish blue and purple to appear.

  
  


Sanae then took notes on how Neku’s energy began to push Shiki’s back but Shiki’s energy was putting up a fight pushing Neku’s energy back a little. Neku’s friends watched as the two orbs pushed each other a little more until Neku’s orb blew up Shiki’s

  
  


“Well that’s interesting” Joshua exclaimed

  
  


“What is?” Neku asked

  
  


“Apparently Virtuoso Demon energy isn’t that weak. It’s actually pretty close to Staccato demon energy for Shiki’s orb to be able to push yours back. also Female demons seem to be a little faster than Male Demons. like their lighter weight allows them to release their energy from within them faster then a male's, considering how fast your orb just flew Shiki.” Joshua explained with his left hand by his head (similar to Neku)

  
  


“Wait seriously?!” Shiki said in shock

  
  
  
  


“sure seems that way” Joshua replied "But at the Same time, a male demons' body is a little more sturdy making their energy more thick so to speak. it's like the aferlife equivalent to one's body mass

  
  
  
  
"So then, that means that Female demons are lighter and faster than males?"  
  
  
  
Eri the giggled  
  
  
  
"that's pretty cool" she said smiling  
  
  
  
Joshua then chuckled at her remark  
  
  
  
"I suppose it is" he said with a smug smile  
  
  


Joshua then walked a little closer to Shiki, making Neku a little nervous since he knows Joshua a lot better than any of his other friends (with the acception of Mr. H of course) and knows how he has a twisted sense of humor

  
  


“hey Josh” Neku said crossing his arms “what’s next?”

  
  


“well now I want to look at Shiki’s claws” the Composer answered

  
  


He then gently placed his hand on Shiki’s right wrist and looked at her claws

  
  


“hey Neku can you stick your hand out?” Joshua asked

  
  


“sure” Neku said a little suspicious

  
  


Joshua then looked at both hands and wore a smug smile and smiled at Sanae who smiled back and added another entry to his notes

  
  


“it seems that female demons have shorter claws then male demons. though only by a few centimeters” Joshua said intrigued

  
  


He then took a few steps back and chuckled while generating Composer energy in his right hand, making Neku gasp feeling even more nervous

  
  


“Joshua? What’re you doing?” Neku asked

  
  


He then walked a little closer to Shiki making her look at the death god in shock. Neku then looked back at Mr. H’s young form who looked up at Neku with a stern look on his face

  
  


“It’s okay. I promise it is, if it wasn’t I wouldn’t allow Joshua to do this. Even if it’s my job to protect him, I also have to keep him in line since we both know how out of control he can get, like how he handled the Reapers’ Game. So don’t worry Phones, nothing’s gonna happen” Sanae said telepathically

  
  


Neku then nodded his head to the Angel and looked back at Joshua

  
  


He then saw Joshua increase the intensity of the energy making it surge like lightning.

  
  


“I just want to see if female demons can handle pain better than male ones” Joshua thought

  
  


Hearing his thoughts Neku ran in front of Shiki and shielded her

  
  


“No!” Neku roared “Don’t you touch her! I don’t care if this is just some little experiment, I’m not letting you hit her with that energy!”

  
  


Beat then stood up filled with concern for Shiki

  
  


“Yo cut it out Prissy boy! You said this was jus’ to help the Higher Plane man! If you take this too far then I ain’t sittin’ here no more! I’mma pound you! YOU GOT DAT?!”

  
  


“Yeah! If you hurt Shiki, then I’ll make sure you regret it!” Eri shouted standing up

  
  


Joshua then shook his head amused by her threat

  
  


“Relax, it's not like I'd actually hurt her. Oh Eri, have you forgotten that I could kill you with a mere snap of my fingers? That I could do that to all of you right now? Even in your Angel forms?” Joshua said slyly

  
  


Eri and Beat then look down knowing what he said was true and sat back down.

  
  


“none of us want her to get hurt!” Neku roared “Dammit Joshua you told me that they were of some value to you remember?! Would you do this crap to Mr. H?!”

  
  


Joshua then sighed

  
  


“Neku you’re being a little dramatic. Of course I have value in them, I’m the one who told you that. It’s not like my energy is at full vibe frequency, plus in my human form my power is even weaker. So don’t worry Neku. Hee hee, don’t you trust me?” Joshua said smiling a crooked smile

  
  


Neku then crossed his arms and sighed

  
  


“I…I do Joshua. But you really know how to freak people out you know? If this will really help you guys then…I’ll do it. Strike me with that energy instead. You know that I can take it”  Neku said sternly

  
  


Shiki then walked next to him

  
  


“Neku you don’t need to do that! You could get hurt! Even if Joshua‘s weaker in his human form, you told all of us your visions of your death at Udagawa back when we had beaten the Reapers Game and hanged out for the first time. You said that Joshua was able to slow down bullets by just LOOKING at them! So there‘s no telling what he could do with that energy!” she roared at him

  
  


Joshua seeing how this was making such a fuss sighed and lets the energy dissolve

  
  


“Alright…I guess we’ll try this a different way” Joshua said crossing his arms

  
  


“Poke each other” he added

  
  


“Huh?” they both said looking at him

  
  


“Just poke each other with your claws” Joshua said smiling a little

 

Neku and Shiki then shrugged and smiled at each other knowing this would be safer than Joshua shooting energy at them and began poking each other. They couldn’t help but chuckle at how cautious the two of them were not wanting to hurt each other with their claws.

  
  


After they poked each other a little more getting more aggressive with each poke, Joshua then stopped them and told the to face him. Neku’s friends then saw what looked like holes on their arms, as if they had bullet holes on them. Upon seeing them Joshua noticed that Shiki’s holes were a little bigger than Neku’s.

  
  


Mr. H’s younger self then added that to his notes

  
  


“huh, that’s interesting” he said with a little smile. “Although Shiki’s claws are a little smaller than yours Phones, her holes are bigger than yours. I think it’s cause girl demons have a sharper point to their claws allowing them to merely stick their finger in you to inflict a lot of damage”

  
  


Neku then smiled with his left hand upward

  
  


“Yeah, that would explain why before the war started, when Clarissa attacked us, she pined me to the ground stabbing me with just her finger tips before really digging her claws into me” Neku exclaimed

  
  


“so then the analysis really is helping!” Rhyme said smiling

  
  


“exactly” Joshua exclaimed with his hands in his back pockets

  
  


He then pulled them out and pulled back some of his hair with a devious grin

  
  


“You all didn’t think I was doing this for fun did you? Hee hee” Joshua said in a playful tone

  
  


Neku then flashed back to when Joshua lied to him telling him he had to run to Wild Cat within five minuets or face erasure and when he rigged Shooters Tin Pin Slammer gear…causing him to groan

  
  


“that coming from the same guy who lied to his partner to get him to run all the way to Mr. H’s coffee shop within five minutes and the same guy who rigged Shooter’s gear allowing me to still think that I failed the mission and was never gonna see Shi--

  
  


He then locked his jaw to stop himself from saying her name and then continued

  
  


“From me…never beating the Reapers‘ Game” he corrected himself “doesn’t really convince me that you‘re serious” he said with his left hand by his head and right hand on his waist

  
  


Shiki then giggled at how he was embarrassed at how he almost mentioned how he was scared of losing his entry fee, that when he lost to Shooter, he thought he was gonna die, never meeting her at Hachiko like they promised. Seeing her giggle then caused Neku to scratch his head feeling very awkward.

  
  


Joshua then chuckled

  
  


“alright, fair enough. Besides now I just have a few questions for you Neku. So you and Shiki can go back to normal” he added

  
  


Neku and Shiki then returned to their normal forms and sat down on he sofa gain

  
  


“Alright, what do you wanna know Josh? Is this still part of your analysis?” Neku asked

  
  


“Yup. I merely want you to describe to me in detail what Demon energy feels like since you’ve been exposed to it so much” Joshua explained

  
  


“Oh, alright then. So what do you want to know specifically?” Neku said curious

  
  


“Well let’s start with the Demon that started it all, Cedric. What did his energy feel like before it merged with Clarissa’s energy?” Joshua said curiously with his right hand on his chin

  
  


Neku then hanged his head and closed his eyes

  
  


“I remember…how much that harmed me. But at the same time, I was lucky that it wasn’t as powerful as Clarissa’s energy, or Anthony’s. Cedric’s felt like…if I was getting electrocuted and burned at the same time. It’s the pain that I felt when I had his energy go inside me. And…I also remember that his energy didn’t feel as…consuming as Clarissa’s did” Neku explained

  
  


Mr. H then added that to his notes

  
  


“and what did it feel like when his energy leaked out of you for the first time, you know, when you punched me in the face?” Joshua asked

  
  


Neku then hid his face in his collar and hands in his pockets

  
  


“It felt like, my body was burning. It’s sorta like if you go to the beach and get your whole body sun burned. At the same time, when I felt the slashes go on my body the first time, it felt like if I had tripped over something and scraped my leg against something, but that cut was going on my entire body. It’s sorta like…when you cut yourself shaving but, it stings, it burns you” he added

  
  


“what about Clarissa?” Joshua asked “what did her energy feel like?”

  
  


“she was…a lot more painful than Cedric. It was like getting a match and lighting it up, letting that little flame burn you, but that little flame was going on your whole body, burning every part of it” Neku said grimly

  
  


Shiki hanged her head seeing how just thinking about all the things Demons have done to him makes him become more sad, almost like it hurts to talk about it.

  
  


“And…when she made that barrier around me. It felt like I was stuck in a house fire! And that the fire was all around me burning me” Neku said darkly

  
  


“Neku…you okay?” Shiki said concerned for him

  
  


“yeah, I’m okay” he said weakly

  
  


“What about when she electrocuted you with her energy?” Joshua asked

  
  


“It felt the same, like I was being burned but, my body was aching from the electrocution too. That’s when I felt my body sting from when my energy leaked out of me, making it break apart like lightning. So on top of what Clarissa did to me, I felt my own energy burning too” Neku said sadly

  
  


“did you feel that when Cedric made your energy leak?” Joshua asked

  
  


“Yeah but…not as intense” Neku replied

  
  


“Okay, now what about your transformations? Were they the same pain?” the composer said curious

  
  


“Yeah, they all burned the same except for my first demon form and full demon form. The first one mainly hurts because I was still adjusting to the demon slashes on my body. But the last one hurts the most cause I felt the same burning sensation of Clarissa’s energy” Neku explained

  
  


He then raised his head a little, only hiding his mouth from Joshua

  
  


“I see. So what about now? Now that you have full control, does it still hurt?” Joshua said to Neku

  
  


“No, not anymore. It’s like the moment I got control over the energy, the moment Shiki removed Clarissa from my mind, the pain was gone” he said a little happy

  
  


Joshua then chuckled   
  
"well that’s good to hear" he said smiling  
  
  
  
Shiki then raised her head and smiled at him, happy that she really did help him.

  
  
  
  


“Now then let’s move on to Anthony. What did his energy feel like?” Joshua said

  
  


Neku then closed his eyes again focusing on the way he use to feel from Anthony’s attacks.

  
  


“He was… a lot stronger than them. The other energies still harmed me, but not to his extent. Anthony’s energy, was a mixture of different things. When he fought me not at his full strength, it felt like I was getting crushed again. Whenever he'd punch me,choke me, kick me or stomp on me, it felt like he was breaking my body" Neku explained  
  
  
"it was like a bat getting swung against my stomach and chest whenever he's strike me there by stomping on me or kicking me and when he'd punch me, it felt like a hole being blasted into my head and face" he said sadly  
  
  
  
"When he'd fire energy at me, but not at his full strength, it felt like I was being burned again but to the point it feels like I'm going to break apart, that my energy's gonna leak through me" Neku said looking at Joshua hiding his mouth  
  
  
  
"But when he fought for real, going full vibe frequency, his energy burns to the point all I can do is scream. it feels like he's blasting hole into me. that Anthony's energy is little by little making me Fade...just feeling it makes me feel like that, like the pain's too much to take" he said darkly  
  
  
  
  
"And just being in his presence made me feel like I was being crushed. The other demons did that too but with his it was a lot worse” Neku said flashing back to when he first met him

  
  
  
  


“It’s to the point, I would feel my head touch the ground, it‘s sort of like if someone was crushing you with weights, and the someone adds more and more to them until they crush your body. And the headaches they gave me, it feels like my head’s pounding, like I have a migraine but…Anthony’s in addition to that also felt like my head was burning” he said still sadly

  
  
  


Neku then clasped his right shoulder remembering how Anthony slashed him there

  
  
  


“Izawa also felt the same, though just only a little weaker than Anthony since they’re both really close to each other in terms of their power” Neku added

  
  


Joshua then crossed his arms and thought about what Neku had said

  
  
  


“so the stronger the demon, the more sever their presence is, and the more intense the energy burns” Joshua said thoughtfully

  
  
  


“yeah that’s basically it, and since Soul Stealers are as strong as Anthony…they create the same amount of pain too. and...just being so close to their presence hurts just as bad as Anthony too. and when they drain energy from me, it feels like someone stabbed my chest and that their claws are ripping me apart, making me feel even weaker" he added feeling a little sad  
  
  
"I still remember it, they beat me to the point I passed out. I don't know what happened after that but...I know that I was about to die, that you guys saved me" Neku said flashing back to when the Soul Stealers nearly killed him  
  
  
"On top of being just as powerful as Soul Stealers, Anthony’s real power feels like a bomb going off, with me caught in the blast the same power he used to knock me out when he ambushed me” Neku said weakly

  
  
  
Neku then paused remembering something he wanted to ask Mr. H and then looked up at him  
  
  
"Hey, Sanae...there's something I need to ask" Neku said looking down  
  
  
"Sure what is it?" Young Mr. H replied  
  
  
"Remember when Anthony attacked me and almost killed me? causing you to then come help me but then almost get killed too?" Neku asked  
  
  
the young Mr. H then looked down remembering how painful it was to see the sorrow in Neku's eyes  
  
"Yeah I remember" he replied  
  
  
"Well, when I came to protect you, shielding you from that stab Anthony was going to do to you, after that everything went black. I don't know what happened. What did he to do me?" Neku said a little nervous  
  
  
"I'm...so sorry but, Neku...Anthony almost won. he got closer to his goal than he ever did in the past" Sanae said darkly   
  
  
  
Neku then gasped feeling almost frightened  
  
  
  
"What? what do you mean?! What happened?" Neku said urgently  
  
  
  
"He stabbed your Soul Code again. but this time he went even deeper and was sliding his hand deeper and deeper into your Soul Code. all the while I was trying to escape his clone that was holding me back." he said grimly  
  
  
"On top of that, what made me even more desperate to escape was that I could sense your energy blinking out Neku, and to make matters worse, he stabbed you with the energy of his true form and made his right arm black outlined in a bluish gray color, he was stabbing your Soul Code with Smorzando energy. If I hadn't had saved you right at that moment then...he would've killed you" the Angel said morosely   
  
  
  
  
Neku then looked at the young Angel terrified  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"I...I was about to lose everything? Anthony....he stabbed my Soul Code with Smorzando energy?!...he was that close to killing me?" Neku said quietly  
  
  
  
"yeah, he was just a few seconds away from killing you. the same thing happened when your friends were trying to get to the Demon Lords' throne room before Anthony won. I could sense how broken your energy was to the point when your friends finally got to you, you were almost at your last layer of energy getting closer and closer to that layer in mere few seconds" Young Mr. H added  
  
  
  
Neku then hanged his head  
  
  
  


“I remember dat yo" Beat said weakly "You really scared us man, when we were fightin' Pi Face again, we could already feel how weak you were yo. We jus' knew that we were about to lose you, and when we finally reached you, we saw some smoke go away yo. and then he used that same crap on you again when he fought you in the Composer district almost killin' you again man. So what about demon smoke man? Dat crap looks like it really hurts you” Beat said clasping shoulder looking down

  
  
  


Neku then flashed back to when Anthony tortured him with his demon smoke and how he screamed in pain from it tearing him apart before his friends came to help him. The thoughts were so intense that it made something happen to him.

  
  
  


At that moment Neku grunted and pulled his hands out of his pockets making him gasp in shock

  
  
  


“I…I have demon smoke?” he said surprised looking at his hands

  
  


“well that makes sense since your Staccato demon energy is close to Anthony’s, so if he and Izawa can do it, then it only makes sense for you to do that too right?” Eri asked

  
  


“yeah” Neku said weakly

  
  


His demon smoke then dissolved

  
  


“it hurts, really badly” he said hiding his face again “It burns like I’m on fire but at the same time it feels like it’s scratching me, like demon claws slashing me, making my energy leak out of me as I begin to break apart” Neku said feeling hurt

  
  


“it’s…a lot like regular smoke too. In addition to it burning me and tearing me up, it feels like it’s smothering me, like I can‘t breathe. It’s like the smoke is killing me the longer I’m exposed to it, like a poison. The longer I feel the energy, the weaker and more exhausted I feel as the smoke tears me up” he explained

  
  


“On top of that, once the energy starts to consume me and cover up more of my body, the weaker I feel to the point I feel like I’m gonna die. It’s something I hate. I would never use that type of demon energy, ever” Neku said grimly

  
  


“Neku…if you want we can stop” Shiki said worried sensing his grief

  
  


“No…it’s okay. I’m just glad that nightmare is over. It’s just, fighting a Demon or Angel is a lot harder than fighting Reapers and Noise. Back then I at least could fight back, with my Partner and my Psychs helping me, even against a Game Master, hell even when I went against Shades with his dragon Noise from fusing with Joshua, even then, I still had you guys backing me up” he said weakly

  
  


“But against Demons and Angels, they’re a lot stronger and because of that I…at least for a while, wasn’t able to defend myself, and it’s because of that, whenever you guys would try to support me, like in the Reapers Game, that you’d all get yourselves almost killed!” Neku said darkly

  
  


Neku then sighed and raised his head smiling at his friends

  
  


“But now, I can enjoy the moment, now I can finally be free of Demons nearly killing me” Neku said smiling

  
  


“yeah, so please don’t get so sad Neku. It’s okay, just like you said, the Nightmare is over” Rhyme said smiling back at him

  
  


“Well while we’re still talkin’ ‘bout this demon stuff yo, I got a question Phones. How come you saw your demon form in ya head yo? That don’t make sense, since Shiki got that Demon energy outta your head, cause I remember you tellin’ us about dat during your God training. So how’s tht possible bro?” Beat asked

  
  


Neku then chuckled

  
  


“Good question man, basically even though Shiki  _did_ remove Clarissa’s demon energy from my head, the core of the demon energy, its true strength is me. I’m what makes it more powerful since it feeds off of my negative emotions. So the true power of the demon energy merged with me to the point it takes on the form of my demon form whenever I’m inside my head” Neku explained

  
  


Beat then scratched his head

  
  


“so there’s two of you yo?” Beat said confused

  
  


Neku then chuckled again

  
  


“Not really bro. it’s basically like the Demon energy is more apart of me now then my other energies. Allowing me to see the core of the energy causing it to look like me to talk to me when I’m inside my head. That’s all” Neku clarified

  
  


“Aight I get ya now Phones” Beat said smiling at his little brother

  
  


“You know” Sanae added “I think it was also the fact that Neku got that energy in him first that it merged with him to that extent. It was that first impact so to speak. So maybe if he had gotten my energy first, then Neku would have his Angel energy take on his shape instead of his demon energy”

  
  


“heh heh that’s a good point Sanae” Shiki said smiling

  
  


“By the way, there’s something I want to ask you guys” Neku said smiling with his left hand upward

  
  


“well what is it?” Shiki asked

  
  


Mr. H’s young human form then placed his pencil and journal down

  
  


“well, as you all know by now my Demon energy feeds off of my negative emotions, like my anger, sadness, frustration, stress and anxiety. Plus you all remember the way I was before the Reapers’ Game right? That I wasn’t exactly the happiest guy thanks to my mind and Soul being hurt for so long. So…well I was wondering, am I…Emo?” Neku asked with his left palm upward and right hand in his pocket

  
  


“Huh? Wait that’s what the Another Day you said, that he had to fight Emo Urges” Eri added

  
  


Joshua then placed his hand on his chin looking at Neku curiously

  
  


“Hmm, you know, I’d say back then you really were emo Neku. It makes sense since you were so hurt back then”  Joshua said with a smug smile

  
  


“yeah and a person that’s Emo is sad and stuff right? So that’s not you now” Rhyme said happily

  
  


Neku then chuckled and smiled with his left hand upward again

  
  


“so then, what do you guys think I’m like now?” he asked his friends

  
  


Eri then giggled

  
  


“I’d say you’re more like a hipster now” she said smiling

  
  


“A what?” Neku asked crossing his arms

  
  


“A Hipster” she added “People who are against what’s hip or cool and are more focused on what they like causing them to be against mainstream stuff and like things that aren’t popular. But at the same time, if something they like becomes popular, they like it for what it IS not cause it’s cool” Eri explained

  
  


Neku then scratched his head

  
  


“heh heh, that really does sound like me” Neku admitted

  
  


He and all his other friends then smiled and laughed other then Joshua who chuckled. After that Eri and Shiki wanted to play Tin Pin Slammer against him again and won the first round, almost winning the second round and lost in the third thanks to Neku's skill.  
  
  
"Geez, you really are good at this" Shiki said with a little giggle  
  
  
"Yeah, especially since I remember Shiki saying you don't even like the game, you just play it every now and then just in case you go to the UG right?" Eri said also smiling  
  
  


“heh, yeah, that's right” Neku said smiling

  
  


After that they all laughed again and everyone began to part ways. They all stood up and told each other good bye and left.

  
  


Eri went back to her house, and Mr. H said he had some errands to run leaving Joshua, Shiki, Beat and Rhyme together.

  
  


“Well this was rather amusing I suppose” Joshua said with his hands in his back pockets

  
  


“yeah and I’m glad that you and Mr. H have more info on demons now” Shiki said hugging Mr. Mew against her chest

  
  


“me too, plus it was kinda cool just hanging out like this you know?” Neku said smiling with his left hand upward

  
  


“You could say I found this interesting too.” Joshua added

  
  


“Well, I guess I’ll see ya later Josh” Neku said smiling and waving goodbye

  
  


“yeah, see you later Neku” Joshua added

  
  


He then sees Neku and Shiki walking away seeing this as his chance to tell Shiki the news

  
  


“Hey Shiki, I need to tell you something. It’s really important, and one could say that it‘s rather private” Joshua added

  
  


Neku and Shiki then stopped walking and turned around facing Joshua

  
  


“Private?” Neku thought

  
  


“Oh, okay Joshua” Shiki said as she walked up to him

  
  


She then looked behind her seeing Neku

  
  


“Don’t worry, I’ll see you in a bit okay?” she said sweetly

  
  


“heh, okay see ya soon” Neku said smiling with his left hand on his hip

  
  
  


He then walked away and shut the door behind him

  
  
  
Although Joshua was about to finally reveal to Shiki the Higher Ups' Decision he notices Beat and Rhyme were still there. Rhyme seeing how the conversation was private decided to leave the living room  
  
  
  
"Um Beat? since Joshua said this was private I think we should, you know...give them their space?" Rhyme said hinting at what she wanted her brother to do  
  
  
"Huh?" Beat said a little confused  
  
  
"Joshua wants some privacy" she said tyring to get her point across   
  
  
"Oh, aight. let's bounce Rhyme" Beat said smiling at her  
  
  
"yeah" She said smiling back  
  
  
they then left the room giving Joshua and Shiki their privacy  
  
  


“So what’s up Joshua?” Shiki asked

  
  
  


She then noticed that he had become very serious giving her a stern look on his face while crossing his arms

  
  


“Shiki…you know by now how much Neku’s friends mean to him. how we all helped him expand his world, healing his mind and soul of the sadness and loneliness he felt back then, right?” he said darkly

  
  


“Yeah of course I do” Shiki replied

  
  


“what’s this all about?” she asked

  
  


“Well as you also know, you, Neku, Beat, Rhyme, and Eri all died before you were meant to, your Time of Passing. It’s because of this that I told something to the Higher Ups and now they’ve accepted my little proposal to them” he explained

  
  


“Joshua?” Shiki said confused

  
  


“The Higher Ups have agreed to bring you all back to life” the Composer revealed

  
  


Shiki then looked at him in shock. She wanted to speak, she wanted to say something but couldn’t. it was like her mouth was stitched shut. Should she be happy? Excited? Nervous? Or concerned about Neku, and how we would deal with this. She had no idea, except for one…to keep this a secret from him until she was ready to tell him.

  
  


“who knows? Maybe Neku will be happy. I mean we’re finally gonna be with our families again, and get older and finish our lives. That’s a good thing, right?” Shiki thought worried


	39. Growing Strong

Shiki, filled with nervousness was unsure of what to say next. She was still trying to grasp that she and all of her other friends were going to be alive again, but was also thinking about how Neku would handle the information. On top of this she felt grief knowing that such a burden was placed on her, that she knows this information, and doesn’t know what to do with it.

 

Mr. Mew, who was hanging onto her shoulder then crawled to her chest so she could hold the toy against her. Now holding the toy against her chest, Shiki then hanged her head

 

“Why? Why did you tell me this Joshua?” Shiki said sadly “Couldn’t you have just told Neku this yourself?”

 

Joshua then chuckled and pulled back his hair

 

“Oh Shiki, don’t you think it’s obvious as to why I told you instead of him?” he says letting out his scary laugh

 

He then placed his hands down to his side becoming more serious

 

“You were his first partner in the Reapers’ Game. You were the first impact on his mind and soul. It’s sort of like when making a first impression on someone. The first time you meet someone is often times the moment you remember the most and on top of this, you were his entry fee. Although the real reason for that is because the Conductor can't bring people back to life, only I, The Composer, have that power. Still, he had to make sure the entry fee made sense” Joshua said sternly

 

Shiki then looked up at Joshua a little shocked that he brought that up and sees the wise Composer cross his arms

 

“Do you really understand what that means? For a person to be the one thing that matters most to you, to the point that person becomes what you fight for in the Reapers’ Game, means a lot Shiki. I know that it has to be you that tells him this. It’s the only way to make sure that he can handle the fact that you‘ll all be alive again” he added

 

“Yeah…I guess I see your point” Shiki said looking down a little

 

“All this time, I knew that that means a lot for me to be his entry fee but…I don’t want to hurt him” Shiki said morosely

 

Joshua then placed his left hand over his mouth and right hand in his back pocket thinking thoughtfully

 

“I suppose you could wait to tell him, to think of when’s the best time to do so” Joshua said wondering how Neku would react

 

“Good idea. I’m not sure when I’ll tell him, but I’ll think of when I’ll do it. I’m gonna take a walk” Shiki said a little worried

 

Joshua then looked at her curiously with his right hand on his chin

 

“Did I make the right choice? Will she be able to handle this?” he thought “After all, we all know how frustrated Neku gets. Now that he finally is able to enjoy his eternity, I can see why Shiki feels so hesitant”

 

Joshua then placed his hands in his back pockets again with a smug smile

 

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see, it’ll certainly be interesting to see how this turns out” Joshua thought again

 

“Well I guess I’ll be going now. After all I still need to bring more humans to the Higher Plane” Joshua said adding his creepy laugh

 

“Oh, alright I guess I’ll see you later then” Shiki said weakly

 

Joshua then waved goodbye and snapped his fingers dissolving into an orb of light that flew away telling Shiki to be careful with her wording

 

“You know by now how dangerous it is for Neku to become upset. One little slip-up, and it could push him to the point his demon energy consumes him again” his voice echoed

 

“what?! No! I know that won’t happen!” Shiki roared “He’s gotten a lot better at controlling the energy! So I know he’ll be okay!”

 

“How can you be so sure?” he echoed again “When we fought Anthony, he overwhelmed Neku with his own demon energy, making it corrupt him to the point he lost his control over it and became Damien again, which lead to you becoming a demon. On top of that, then when Kurushii nearly beat Neku to death, he messed with Neku's mind to the point Neku gave up and almost allowed Kurushii to kill him. You by now how Demon energy can tear someone's mind apart. All I’m saying, is that you need to be careful Shiki”

 

She then hanged her head as Joshua’s voice faded out echoing a certain part of his sentence

 

“Be careful Shiki”

 

“Neku” Shiki said sadly “I don’t want you to get hurt!”

 

She then flashed back to when she danced with him when he was under Clarissa’s control, how he would hold her hand and kiss it, or how they were face to face, being inches away from each other being close enough to kiss. Or how he kissed her making her become a demon.

 

“I know that he slipped back” Shiki thought “that he became the former Demon Lord, Damien but…he wasn’t like that for too long, Joshua saved him. We were really close to losing him again. What if…he really slips back? What if he becomes Damien and tries to kill us?! WHAT IF HE--

 

“No!” She said out loud

 

“Neku’s not gonna become that, I won’t let him. None of us will!” Shiki thought trying to feel confident

 

Shiki then takes a deep breath and sighed.

 

“I can handle this…right? I have to. I gotta handle this carefully, for Neku’s sake” Shiki thought filled with anxiety

 

She then left Beat and Rhyme’s apartmnt and went for a walk to collect her thoughts. Rather then going back home, she walked around the city wondering how to tell Neku that they can all go home, and be alive again.

 

Shiki started to leave the street that Beat and Rhyme’s house was on and lowered her vibe frequency to that of a spirit that never became stronger, so she could avoid bumping into people like she would in the RG, anything to keep her mind off of her troubled thoughts.

 

In the mean time she walked around the city, Neku was back at his house again watching TV in his room. He almost felt bored just laying on his bed as he changed the channels to find something that amused him. As he searched the channels, Neku couldn’t help but think about what he was doing.

 

“It’s funny” he thought “After all this time, now I can finally do something as simple as…watching TV in my house. I almost feel…bored. Heh, still I guess that’s a good thing. The fact that I’m able to relax in my house to the point I grow bored, is something I was never able to do when I first entered the after life”

 

“I guess…in a way I should be grateful. If it wasn’t for them then I wouldn’t even be in my room right now. All of them, they saved my life…I…I actually died, I became orbs that, if it wasn’t for Mr. H’s imprint, would’ve dissolved. But whatever…that’s in the past” Neku said in his head

 

He then tried to get off of his bed but felt so lazy he almost didn’t want to move. He reached his left hand out for the remote of his TV and turned it off (although he knew he could’ve turned it off with his mind, he didn’t care and did it normally) Neku then moaned out of boredom and looked at the ceiling

 

“Well this sucks” he thought again “what am I suppose to do now? As much as I love having the apartment to myself, no rules, no curfews, no one to tell me what to do…it’s so…quiet without them here”

 

Not wanting to think too much about his parents and his cat Aya, knowing that he would get sad, he then decided to stop being lazy and get out of bed. However he was still feeling a little lazy, causing him to snap his fingers to teleport to the floor rather than simply getting off of his bed.

 

He then yawned and leaped into the air gliding around his house and went to the kitchen. Then after that he sat down by the kitchen’s table and then closed his eyes and snapped his fingers creating a container filled with six chicken nuggets and began eating them.

 

Neku couldn’t help but smile as he munched on them, he loved the crunchy texture of the nugget and the almost juicy sort of taste of the chicken.

 

“Something’s missing” he thought

 

Neku then got up and glided to the front door and glided out of his house.

 

“Heh, I can’t have these nuggets without something to wash them down. Guess I‘ll go to Wild Cat” Neku thought

 

The fiery haired teen then glided over to the Café. As he did this, Mr. H, who was in his house again, couldn’t help but smile knowing where Neku was going to go

 

“heh heh, I never thought it was that good. I mean I know I’m really good at making coffee but still, does he really drink that with everything?” Mr. H thought

 

He then chuckled scratching his neck

 

“Neku’s lucky that he hasn’t had a sugar rush by now from drinking coffee so much. Then again, it’s not like he drinks it constantly” he thought again

 

As he watched over Neku through a portal he made in his room, he saw Shiki walking towards the scramble crossing

 

“She seems hesitant…maybe I should tell him instead” Mr. H thought “Although, she has her mind made up. So…I guess then I shouldn’t interfere”

 

Shiki roamed the streets alongside the crowd with her toy against her chest trying to feel more calm as she thought about Neku and his demon energy.

 

“I know that he can control it. So…why do I still feel nervous about telling him?” she thought

 

She then headed to Shibu Q when she spotted someone making her gasp

 

“It’s him! Why’s he here?! When did he die?!” Shiki thought nervously

 

As she saw the person walk towards her Shiki began to walk away, hoping that the person didn’t notice her. In the mean time that happened Neku had approached Wild Cat, knowing that Mr. H is busy he felt a little unsure about just entering the building without CAT’s permission.

 

Seeing that he only had three nuggets left, he really wanted to wash them down with Wild Cat coffee causing him to stand in front of the building and close his eyes

 

“Hey Mr. H” he thought “I know you’re really busy and all, which is why Wild Cat’s empty both in the RG, UG and Higher Plane but…do you mind if I go in there and have some of your coffee?”

 

Hearing those thoughts made the Angel smile

 

“heh, alright Phones, I don’t mind. Feel free to go in. I apprciate you asking me if it was okay” Mr. H thought back

 

“Thanks CAT” Neku said telepathically

 

He then walked into the building, causing the lights to go on and sat down on one of the seats and then placed the container of nuggets on the table he sat at and placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes

 

“Focus” he said to himself

 

He then opened his eyes to see his favorite blend of Mr. H’s coffee in front of him, making him smile.

 

“heh, sweet” he thought smiling at the drink.

 

He then began to finish the container of chicken nuggets by eating one of the last two nuggets. As this happened Shiki heard the foot steps of the person behind her grow closer, making her more nervous.

 

“Just keep moving, if I’m lucky he’ll stop following me…wait if I’m LUCKY?! Get real, this guy is FOLLOWING ME! Is he stalking me?! Is this…is this what I was like to Neku? Back in the UG? Some creepy stalker?” Shiki thought more worried

 

Amused by her fast pace the boy called out to her.

 

“Hey!” he yelled “You’re that little whiney loser from school aren’t you?! That wimpy little geek that I beat up when I was alive?”

 

“Why did he have to be here?!” she thought

 

Shiki then turned around and yelled at the boy

 

“Shut up Yamato! I’m not a geek, and I’m not a wimp!” Shiki roared

 

“heh oh really?” Yamato said with a menacing grin “cause last time I checked, that little dumb friend of yours had to save you when I used you as my little punching bag, you were so useless! You didn’t even try to fight back”

 

“dumb friend?! What’re you--

 

Shiki then flashed back to when Neku tackled Yamato and started punching him in the face

 

“I’m not letting you hurt her anymore!”

 

“Rrrgh! He’s NOT DUMB! Why can’t you just back off?!” Shiki yelled

 

Yamato then flashed back to what Joshua told him

 

“Should you EVER come near Neku Sakuraba again…should you ever give him a dirty look, or have the intent of hurting him…I won’t hesitate to kill you”

 

“Well” Yamato said slyly “You could say someone told me that Neku was off limits. That I couldn’t come near him or else a certain someone would try to hurt me”

 

He then chuckled

 

“Which means, you’re the next best thing” he said darkly “It looks like your little loser emo friend can’t save you now”

 

Shiki then gritted her teeth

 

“SHUT UP!” she roared “He’s not a loser! You don’t know ANYTHING about Neku!”

 

Yamato then walked closer to her and smiled, causing Shiki to raise her vibe frequency back to normal and get in her fighting stance making Mr. Mew leap to the ground

 

“I’m not that same weak girl anymore!” Shiki thought to herself

 

“Oh how cute” the violent boy thought “the little nerd made her dolly come to life. Geez she’s such a baby”

 

“Wait, he’s just as strong as Beat?! That’s why he’s still able to see me with my vibe frequency back to normal…alright, I can handle this” she thought

 

He then pounced at her trying to punch her causing Shiki to lean to the left dodging the attack. This then caused Yamato to keep attempting to punch Shiki making her dodge all the blows.

 

“What’s with this kid?” he thought “Did she actually learn how to fight?”

 

As she continued to evade the attacks, Shiki then grabbed Yamato’s right hand clenching his fist and shot her energy into him making Yamato go flying back away from her. As he flew back, Shiki pounced on him along with Mr. Mew by her side, and slashed him with her energy making him scream.

 

He then blasted her with his dark green energy making Shiki scream as she went flying back. Mr. Mew then went to its panther form and leaped into the air, catching Shiki by biting her shirt, and placed her back on the ground. Yamato then got up smiling at Shiki, impressed by her strength.

 

“I don’t know what happened to you, but you seem to have gotten more tough” he said slyly.

 

In the mean time he walked to Shiki charging up energy in his hands, Neku had already finished his nuggets and was drinking his coffee, noticing that he felt a little uneasy. (due to how Shiki wasn’t in a severe amount of pain, Neku didn’t sense her pain to the point of feeling a headache)

 

“Huh? How come I feel so tense?“ he thought “It’s not like anything bad’s happening to me. Am I picking up on someone’s presence? Yeah…that has to be it since I can feel how my friends feel thanks to our pact from the UG becoming stronger in the Higher Plane…and the pact I made with Rhyme, Eri and Mr. H when I did that fusion attack against Anthony”

 

 

 

Neku then sighed and sipped his coffee again

 

“Well, I have felt myself tense up before…but why did that happen? Since I have a connection to them, linking my emotions and pain to them and their pain to me, I should make sure everything’s okay” he thought again

 

Being sure of his decision, Neku then drank the last of his coffee and tossed it in a nearby garbage can and left Wild Cat and began walking around the city. As he did this, Shiki’s fight continued.

 

Yamato, now with energy charged both hands then ran towards her only to see Shiki vanish in the blink of an eye. He looked to his left, only to get slashed, to his right, slashed again. He looked behind him and saw a pink flash of light slash him. He then was slashed in all directions making his energy dissolve and made him scream in pain.

 

The slashes then stopped and he opened his eyes to see a pink orb in front of him which exploded sendign him crashing to the ground. Tenzo then got to his feet and saw Shiki standing tall filled with determination.

 

“Go Mr. Mew!” she shouted

 

The toy then flew to him slashing him with pink slashes of energy. The bully then knocked the toy away causing Shiki to snap her fingers making it become a panther and pounced on the bully slashing him. Shiki then became pink energy agan and fused with the Pather making it glow with pink eyes as the Shiki Panther roared at him.

 

“I’m not weak anymore!” she screamed at him

 

The panther then engulfed him in a dome of pink energy and exploded creating a huge shock wave that sent Yamato crashing to the ground now covered in scratches. It was something that impressed Joshua as he watched over the HP Shibuya watching the fight

 

“She really has gotten stronger” Joshua thought with a little smile

 

When the explosion dissolved, the massive bully then saw Shiki and Panther Mr. Mew fly at him in a pouncing position, but Yamato then grabed Shiki’s left hand, now clenched into a fist, and shot energy at her, making Shiki clench her stomach. This then caused the panther to pounce at the bully, only to have him punch the panther’s face, making it revert back to a toy.

 

“this isn’t good” Joshua thought as he watched this “In the Higher Plane, a Spirit’s physical strength drastically increases due to how they don’t have their bodies to weigh them down but…when a Spirit is already strong physically, they’re almost on par with an Enlighten, and in some cases like Beat, they can physically be almost as strong as an Angel”

 

“and since Yamato is physically very strong…this could get dangerous. Should I get involved? No…this is important to her, she wants to prove to herself that she IS strong” Joshua thought as he crossed his arms

 

Mr. H, who was adding an update to his reports about Neku’s progress, then teleported to Joshua, sensing his concern.

 

“So you felt it too?” Joshua asked

 

“Yeah I could sense something bothering you, and that one kid, the one that you used to test Neku’s strength. You know this is risky since this kid is just as strong as Beat, and Beat’s physical strength alone was enough to nearly kill Phones.” Mr. H said worried

 

As they watched, Yamato then punched Shiki in the face dozens of times followed by blasting her with energy making her wail in pain to the point tears fell from her face.

 

At that point Neku felt a headache

 

“Nnngh! Shiki!” Neku roared sensing her pain

 

He then got into his focusing pose, and closed his eyes

 

“Open up, your senses” Neku said quietly

 

He then opened his eyes making them become dark blue from focusing his energy there, and ran to where Shiki’s presense lead him, making him head to Shibu Q. his anger then rushed over him as he sensed how her pain was increasing

 

Shiki then got up only for him to blast more energy at her making her scream as she slammed onto the floor again becoming covered in scratches. As tired as she was, Shiki got back up again.

 

She then flashed back to the UG remembering how she held Neku back

 

“He was the one that solved all the riddles, he was the one that was better at using Psychs…all I did was hold him back. Even if I’ve gotten stronger, a lot of it was just me relying on Angel energy. But I want to be strong ON MY OWN!” she thought pushing herself

 

She then got up and held out her hand commanding Mr. Mew to fly to Yamato, as he dodged the kitty, at that moment Shiki made a clone that blasted Yamato from behind, causing him to then get slashed by Mr. Mew before falling to the ground. This then caused Mr. Mew to return to Shiki and rest on her shoulder in case she needs the toy again.

 

He then got up and looked in confusion that Shiki had disappeared.

 

“heh, I knew she was a wuss. I knew she’d run away sooner or--

 

At that moment Shiki appeared and blasted the fearsome bully with her energy making him go flying, she then leaped into the air and was about to blast him again, only to have the bully blast her with so much energy that she dissolved. Once she did, energy began to flow in a certain direction, to the original Shiki.

 

Yamato then teleported back to the ground filled with content.

 

“So that nerdy little girl was hiding? Heh what a loser” he thought amused

 

The crazy bully walked, following the orbs to lead him to the real Shiki, unaware that she had purposely cloaked herself. Once all the orbs were all gone (going back to Shiki) she then uncloaked herself and flew to him with her right hand charging up an instant kill shot.

 

“what?! If Shiki uses that--

 

Before he could even finish his sentence, Joshua and Mr. H saw Shiki shrink the energy making it as small as a knife, lessening its power. Shiki then was about to swing her instant kill knife at Yamato when Mr. Mew slashed his back making him fall forward. Shiki then tackled him and stabbed his stomach making him scream in pain.

 

After that Shiki saw her enemy swing his left hand to her, clenched in a fist, causing her to bite his wrist, digging her demon teeth into him.

 

“Ahhhh! Let go you freak!” he cried.

 

He then punched Shiki in the head multiple times casuing her to dig deeper into his wrist. All was going according to her plan, now Shiki could keep him in place and charge energy.

 

She then flashed back to the Angels’ Game.

 

“Even back then…I was weak. I was picked off as the weakest member of our team, so I was sentenced to die. So then Neku saved me, only for himself to get hurt…

 

She then remembered how he made a dome of his energy around him and her protecting themselves from being shot at by Hunters.

 

“he went through so much pain, all because I couldn’t be there for him…

 

As she focused on wanting to be stronger, her energy began to grow more powerful

 

“I wanted to help him, back when the Soul Stealers first attacked him in his house…but I couldn’t. all this time it was Angel energy that helped me be there for him. But…I want to do that with MY power, MY energy!” she thought

 

Shiki then felt herself get hot as her energy began to engulf her.

 

“Heh, well would ya look at that? It looks like Shiki’s really doing it” Mr. H said proudly

 

Joshua then chuckled

 

“Yeah she really is” he said smiling

 

“I want to be strong! I want to be able to fight for myself! On my own! And I’m not gonna let myself bring anyone down anymore!” Shiki thought strongly

 

At that moment she opened her eyes and had her body wrapped in pink energy with a darker shade of Pink in the center (though without the last layer of the energy where it’s usually black) causing her to let go of Yamato making him look at her in shock

 

“heh, well done Shiki. Her energy armor, is almost on par with Neku…she’s practically there. All she needs is the black layer of energy” Joshua said smugly

 

She then roars as a dome of pink nergy engulfed him and her and exploded sending Yamato flying and rolling on the ground. He then got up and ran away.

 

“Gotta cloak myself. I need to be invisible” he thought “that way I can recover my strength”

 

Exhausted from unleashing such a blast of power Shiki fell to her knees panting out of breath, and returned to her normal form. At that moment she felt someone place their hand on her left shoulder.

 

“Shiki” the person said “Who did this to you?”

 

Shiki then looked up at first happy to hear his voice, but was then filled with terror

 

“N-Neku?” she said weakly

 

Unknown to him was that he was lost in the Staccato Demon energy. He was enraged sensing Shiki’s pain worsen as he tracked her energy. He was full demon again but had a purplish blue aura around him and parts of the energy swirled around his body like a sort of mist, making his skin and clothes all have a purple tint. He also had pitch black eyes with his usual red pupiless irises but with a purple tint.

 

Shiki also saw how his face darkened around his eyes, like a shadow was casted over it around his eyes. (similar to his second demon form)

 

“Neku! You need to calm down! You’re under the demon energy’s control again and--

 

He then looked at her, and the moment their eyes met, Shiki saw the core of his demon energy swirling like a tornado with streams of purplish blue lightning coming out of it, and then blinked ending her vision.

 

“Shiki…who did this to you?” he asked again

 

“That was me” a voice said

 

Yamato then uncloaked himself and snikered at Neku, making him hide his hands in his pockets as the energy swirled around him evenmore.

 

“You” Neku snarled “You dare to harm her?! You dare to attack any of them?!”

 

He then walked to his school bully with his hands still in his pockets making Shiki terrified as she saw parts of the buildings in the HP Shibuya get cracks in them.

 

Yamato then walked to Neku popping his knuckles. As Shiki got up, prepared to stop Neku, he teleported to Yamato and slashed him with black demon energy outlined in purplish blue, making more buildings get cracks.

 

“Shiki” Joshua said telepathically “You have to stop Neku, his Staccato Demon energy is overpowering the Fledgling district. If you don’t, then you and every other spirit here will face Soul Obstruction”

 

“Don’t worry” Shiki said back to Joshua in her head “I’ll stop him”

 

She then snapped her fingers, creating Neku’s human form, and ran to him with Mr. Mew on her shoulders, creating the instant kill shot in her right hand. As Neku continued to slash his foe he then roared as he sent a massive blast of energy making the bully fall laying on his back.

 

To Shiki’s surprise she then saw him generate Demon smoke as it began to engulf Yamato, making him scream to the point he cried.

 

“No! He said he would never use that! Neku…he’s starting to lose himself. Don’t worry…I won’t let that happen again” Shiki thought

 

As she ran even faster getting ready to slash Neku she remembered what he said we wants her to do to him, should the demon energy try to consume him:

 

 

“I know what I’m asking is well…insane but, I’m asking you, as my friend, to please take that away from me”

 

 

“I can’t screw this up!” Shiki thought “I can’t!”

 

She then swung the energy behind her getting ready to stab his back as she got closer to him.

 

“Neku…please…don’t get mad, I have to do this. I’m sorry” Shiki thought sadly

 

She then got closer to him being only a few feet away causing her to swing the energy to his back, but stop…making the tip of the energy just barely touch his back.

 

She then took a deep breath and lets the energy dissolve, making the human form dissolve too. Shiki then looked at Neku horrified as she saw parts of his demon skin begin to tear at his left forearm and also parts of his back making black demon energy leak out of.

 

“What’re you doing Shiki?! I know it’s hard but you have to do it” Mr. H said sternly

 

“I know but…I can’t kill him…I’ll figure this out” Shiki said telepathically

 

Neku then snickered as Yamato looked at him with his eyes halfway open and laid on his knees punching the bully in the face with each blow making dark green orbs leak out of Yamato’s face.

 

As he was about to slam his right fist into the bully’s face, someone held him back. He then looked to see Shiki filled with sad eyes.

 

“You told me you could control it, remember Neku?” Shiki said sadly

 

Neku then remembered how he said that when she freed him from Clarissa, causing his fist to unclench and his eyes became white with red pupiless irises again. Shiki then lets out a sigh of relief seeing the Staccato energy stop leaking out of him as purplish blue smoke and dissolve into the air, powering him down to his normal state

 

Exhausted from the Staccato energy’s strength Neku felt his hands slam against the floor as he laid on his knees panting out of breath causing Shiki to sit on her knees to be at his level and try to hold Neku steady. also exhausted, Yamato (who was becoming unconscious) has gained alertness and backed away from Neku, running away from him until he was gone from view.

 

“Neku…are you okay?” Shiki said worried

 

Neku then generated darkblue energy around his body healing himself 

 

“Nnngh! Yeah…just a little sore” he said weakly

 

He then got up with Shiki relived that he didn’t need help, that he could get up on his own.

 

“what happened to me? It started again…didn’t it?” Neku said hiding his face again with his hands in his pockets

 

“Yeah, your demon energy fed off of your anger but, unlike those other times, now that your demon energy’s stronger, being Staccato demon energy, it was nearly killing you. Your vibe frequency was so powerful that you were destroying the HP Shibuya” Shiki said weakly

 

Neku then looked up seeing that the cracks on the buildings were fixing themselves, representing Neku’s calm state of mind

 

“Sorry” he said weakly “I don’t know what came over me…I just sensed you were in pain…and seeing how your pain worsened got me worried and then, I could also sense how you were getting tired from all the wounds you had. It just…got me angry knowing that you were in trouble, that you were being hurt. but it wasn't just that, it was also the fact that he was hurting you, the real you. the person you fought so hard to be again. it just...made me so angry that I lost control”

 

“I'm so sorry Neku. but...you don’t need to worry about me now…I can take care of myself” she said sweetly

 

She then snapped her fingers recreating her energy armor making Neku smile

 

“Since when could you do that?” he said with his left hand on his hip

 

“Since just now…when I fought Yamato. I fought wanting to use my strength, my own power. The next thing I knew, this happened” Shiki said smiling

 

Neku then hanged his head again and hid his hands in his pockets

 

“Sorry” he said weakly “I wish you never had to fight him”

 

“Neku…don’t worry, yeah I got beat up, but I'm kind of glad I got in a fight with him, cause I’m stronger now” Shiki said sweetly

 

She then snapped her fingers and returned to her normal form, simultaneously healing herself

 

“Come on Neku, let’s go home. We both need to relax after all of this” she said wanting him to calm down some more

 

“Yeah” Neku said sadly

 

They then glided back to their houses in silence, with a sort of tension between them, almost like Neku blames himself for Shiki being hurt. Once Shiki reached her apartment she was greeted by a troubled Eri, who said she could sense Shiki was in pain but also sensed that Neku came to help her.

 

Shiki then reassured Eri that she and Neku were both okay and told Eri what Joshua told her

 

 

 

“WHAT WE--

 

Shiki then covered her mouth

 

“Shhh! I’m still thinking of how to say this” Shiki sternly “you know how strong he is, so he could teleport here if he senses our energies are tense. He might mistake it for pain or anger”

 

Eri then nodded her head and Shiki removed her hand from Eri.

 

“I hate doing this…I don’t like hiding this from Neku but…he got so out of control! There’s no way I can tell him now” Shiki said weakly

 

Eri then hanged her head

 

“I don’t like this either, but we owe it to him to help Neku through this. We need to make him feel better, then maybe you can reveal it to him once he’s in a better mood” she said reassuringly

 

Shiki then raised her head and smiled

 

“That’s a good idea” she said happily

 

Meanwhile, as the girls discussed what they could do, Beat went and “Kidnapped” his brother again throwing him over his shoulders and brought Neku to his house again and placed him in his bed room.

 

“We need to talk yo. I could feel somethin’ ain’t right with you. Me 'n Rhyme could feel that demon crap getting’ stronger yo! Plus we could feel Shiki bein’ in pain man! What’s goin’ on with you?” Beat said worried

 

Neku then sighed

 

“Sorry man, I just…lost control over myself and the next thing I knew, Shiki had to calm me down. I’ll tell ya all about it” he said sitting down beside Beat on his bed

 

To be continued...


	40. Forever Siblings

Filled with concern for his “little brother” Beat asked Neku what happened, as he explained, Beat wailed in shock that Neku had lost so much control. It was something that he couldn’t get over.

 

“BWAAAAH! WHAT THE HELL?!” Beat roared

 

“How come it got like that yo? I ain’t gettin’ it man” Beat said clasping his shoulder

 

Neku then hanged his head

 

“It’s my fault. I was angry at the fact that someone was hurting Shiki so…I guess it just fed off of what I felt” Neku said sadly

 

Beat then sighed

 

“You gotta control dat crap yo. It’s risky man I jus’ don’t know what to say Phones. I’m so sorry. I wish that crap didn’t happen to you or Shiki. But at least she’s okay” Beat said a little unsure of what to say to Neku

 

They then sat in silence for a bit and Beat felt his eyes water at the thought of losing Neku again.

 

“Huh? Beat? What’s up with you?” Neku thought

 

He then saw tears stream down Beat’s face as he squeezed his bed

 

“It’s just…IT AIN’T FAIR YO! WHY?! WHY DOES ALL THIS CRAP GOTTA HAPPEN TO YOU?! WHY DID THE DEMON ENERGY DO THAT CRAP YO?! IT AIN’T RIGHT! I hate that Phones!” Beat roared

 

Neku then hid his face in his funnel collar and hands in his pockets again

 

“Beat…it’s….it’s fine. That’s just how demon energy works. I know I need to control it but, it’s like one minute I can control it, and the moment I feel angry or some other intense feeling, it feeds off of it. There’s only so much I can do. Heh, I’m just…a screw up. No matter what I do, I end up having that energy hurt me” Neku said sadly

 

“Phones, you ain’t no screw up man, I am” Beat said trying to be supportive

 

But it didn’t work. Seeing how he was struggling his wise younger sister glided into the room.

 

“Need some help Beat?” Rhyme asked

 

Seeing what she meant Beat looked at her sadly and nodded his head. Neku then looked up to see Rhyme and scooted over to for her to sit next to him. She then looked at Neku filled with worry.

 

“Go on…say it, I screwed up. I should’ve been more careful. Usually I don’t get mad very easily. I just never have, but…ever since I met you guys, ever since I forgot all of you thanks to Clarissa…I just can’t stand the thought of someone taking that away again. I don’t want to lose that” Neku said weakly

 

Rhyme then hanged her head

 

“Neku you didn’t screw up. What happened wasn’t your fault so you don’t need to blame yourself. Everyone has something that is important to them, wanting to protect that is a good thing” she said trying to help him

 

“But I lost control Rhyme. Why is it that I’m okay one minute then the moment I feel tense this crap happens to me? How can that be good?” Neku asked

 

“Okay, you’re right, you did lose control but that doesn’t make it permanent Neku. The demon energy feeds off of you, YOU are its power source. Anger doesn’t have to be a bad thing Neku, we can take the strength it gives us and turn it into something positive” Rhyme said looking up at him

 

He then looked up at Rhyme and smiled making her smile back

 

“It’s your power Neku, don’t let yourself get to the breaking point, and do what you did when Joshua would annoy you. Take a deep breath and relax. Anger is like a fire that fizzles out over time, when we learn to control it, we can better ourselves. Besides, learning from your mistakes is how we improve” she said sweetly

 

She then turned her head to him and smiled as she looked at him

 

 

Neku and Beat smiled at each other then back at her

 

“Heh damn, that’s some really intense stuff” Neku said a little astonished by the twelve year old’s insight

 

“I’ve always known Rhyme was the smart one giving her brother advice but…heh she’s amazing, she kinda reminds me of Mr. H and his advice to expand my world” Neku thought happily

 

“You always know jus’ what to say Rhyme” Beat said happily

 

Rhyme then giggled

 

“I just wanted to be there for him that’s all” she said to Beat

 

She then turned to her fiery haired brother

 

“and you really were Rhyme. I feel a lot better now actually” Neku said smiling at her

 

“You helped me realize that, it doesn’t feel so out of reach anymore, that I really can keep my demon energy under control with it never having those outbursts again” he added happily

 

“Well good, cause it’s like you said back when Shiki freed you from Clarissa remember? You said, I can control it now. So I know you can do this Neku. It’ll be fine” she said encouraging him

 

“Yeah so don’chu worry, no matter what, I’ll always got ya back.” Beat added

 

“Same here” Rhyme added

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“Heh thanks…it means a lot hearing that” Neku said sincerely

 

After that Rhyme, asked what triggered his rage to the point Neku can’t calm down like the way he would in the UG, causing Neku to hang his head again

 

“I guess…it’s cause, ever since I met you guys, ever since I made…friends, I can’t imagine my world being any different. But even if I want that, to have my world be with my friends now…I still lost all of that here…

 

Neku then clasped his left shoulder remembering when he was the Demon Lord

 

“I was under Clarissa’s control, and while all that happened I…I thought that I needed Demon energy. That she was keeping me safe but, in the end, I almost destroyed my world, I nearly killed the same people that helped expand it. And I got close to losing that several times already, like in the Angels’ Game. The Proxy, Fledgling and Higher Mind version all almost killed me. I know I had some close calls in the Reapers' Game too. Every Noise I fought, or Reaper and especially a Game Master, all put me at risk of dying. ” Neku said sadly

 

Neku then placed his right and on his chest feeling a little more sad

 

“On top of all that, Anthony was the only demon that actually was the closest to killing me. he actually damaged my Soul Code, and he nearly killed you guys…I guess it’s just…that’s when I feel that anger, that it just bursts out like that to the point I can’t make it stop” Neku said weakly

 

“But you can Neku, you’re not really the most hotheaded guy, like my brother, you don’t get mad very easily. So since your anger is triggered when you think you're about to lose someone...I can see why you would get you this upset but…just remember, we’re dead, so we’ll live forever now. We’ll always be here Neku” Rhyme said smiling

 

Neku then placed his hand back down and smiled at her

 

“thanks…it’s funny how much you guys really know me, cause I never felt that angry in the UG, though Joshua did get me pretty close, and now I know why. even back then, when Shiki's life was on the line, because of me, I kept myself under control cause I needed to win, and that I could win, that I didn't feel like I was screwed. But…I know now that I need to remember that you guys can take care of yourselves too, and that now I can use my own strength too” he said sincerely

 

“heh damn straight we can yo. so if somethin’ happens, and it involves us, don’chu get angry man, cause we can handle ourselves too, and you've always used your own strength Phones, it's jus' now you ain't defensalis no more. you know whatchu doin' man, jus' like the Reapers' Game. you're finally yourself again yo. we'll all be here man. nothing ain't takin' that away Phones.”

 

“you mean, as a brother?” Neku said weakly

 

“heh you know it Phones!” Beat said smiling

 

Rhyme then got up and saw the two boys “bro fist” followed by Beat giving Neku a noogie making him laugh

 

He then lets go of Neku and smiled at his little brother

 

“Now go on yo, do what ever you wanna do man. You can hangout here or head out. It don’t matter, jus’ know that you can always come here Phones. It ain’t jus’ me ‘n Rhyme’s home, it’s your home too” Beat said crossing his arms smiling

 

“heh he’s right Neku. So, feel free to do whatever you want” Rhyme added

 

“It’s my home too? Heh, I’ve never felt so…welcomed, like you guys really like being with me. the only other time people want me in their home is Shiki‘s parents…it’s still feels a little weird…people actually being loyal to me…but, I know that that’s cause that's who you are, who all of you are” Neku said smiling

 

Neku then scratched his head feeling like he may have said a little too much making Rhyme giggle.after that nice Beat Rhyme and Neku then walked out of the house and around Shibuya. and after that they fought Noise together as practice and as they walked around the city, they ended up in Miyashita Underpass, something that couldn't help but make Beat and Rhyme think about their parents.

 

As they did, they all talked about how Beat was starting to get along with his parents better. Neku then added that he knows what it’s like for parents to drive their kid crazy. It was something that shocked Beat, he never thought Neku would understand that.

 

“how would you know what that’s like yo? You ain’t got an older brother or sister, you ain’t got a lil’ sister or brother either man. So how would you know what it’s like for your parents to get fed up wid you?” Beat said sadly

 

Neku then hanged his head

 

“But I do. Before I entered the Reapers Game, my parents couldn't stand me and I couldn't stand them. They drove nuts but... especially my dad” he said sadly “I feel like only AFTER the Reapers' Game, after I got my second chance at living did we finally start to get along. They just didn't get me. So often times I would get into arguments with my dad about that”

 

“Really?” Beat said shocked

 

“But even if you argued you know that he wanted the best for you, right Neku?” Rhyme said a little sad

 

“I guess yeah…I mean looking back on that, I can see what he was trying to say back then…but the way he would look at me, the way he’d talk to me, it’s like he couldn’t stand that I did that, that he couldn’t stand me” Neku said weakly

 

“He would tell me that I needed to grow up, that the world wasn’t as bad as I that thought it to be. I never believed him though, he just got fed up with how I would always ignore people, right down to the point that I’d just stay in my room, avoiding my parents. Why do you have to be so closed minded he’d say, or don’t you realize that there are good people out there?” he added

 

Neku then sighed remembering how angry his dad would make him

 

“Neku, no one will ever know you better than them, they raised you and took care of you, it only makes sense that your dad wants you to be happy. It’s better to argue knowing that someone cares about you then for them to let you suffer.” Rhyme said smiling a little

 

Neku then looked up at her and smiled

 

“thanks Rhyme” he said sincerely

 

“That’s exactly what I realized, after expanding my world” Neku said happily with his left hand upward as he smiled

 

“So then what Phones?” Beat asked clasping his shoulder “I mean it ain’t easy puttin’ up with that yo”

 

Neku then hanged his head again

 

“Yeah you’re right. It made me feel like crap, like my dad hated me…my mom would tell me not to worry about it, that he does care…but most of the time it didn't feel like it. He’d say: Why don’t you get that you’re being so stubborn?! Or: how come you don’t hangout with people at Udagawa, it’s not like everyone will hurt you?!” Neku said sadly

 

He then sighed

 

“he didn’t get it, I know he meant well…but still. It felt like I did something wrong, like I was just annoying him. My own dad…he didn’t understand the way I felt. So it’s because of that, that we grew more distant as I got older and had more problems with getting along with people…until…he’d be there but…it’s not like we’d hangout anymore, he would only give me advice about life, at least then he‘d seem like he cared but in the end, he just…got fed up with me” 

 

Beat then looked at his brother sympathetically

 

“I’m so sorry Phones. I never knew you had so much crap to put up with. I know how much alla that hurts man. Whachu goin’ through ain’t too different from me” Beat said sadly

 

“Yeah…and even when my mom would try to be there for me, I would still get her upset too. Unlike my dad, she was a little more understanding to the crap I went through cause of people hurting me. But even she would get mad and yell at me whenever I messed up on my chores, since I had a habbit of daydreaming to ignore people, sometimes I would end up ignoring her” Neku added

 

“it’s not like I meant it, and she knew that too, but still sometimes when she gets stressed from her job, she would take it out on me and yell at me calling me a spoiled little brat when I go to my comfort zone ignoring everyone. Sure, she’d apologize and tell me she was just stressed and didn’t mean it…but…it’d still hurt, especially cause it would happen a lot. It’d make me think that even my own parents couldn’t stand me…Back then, in the Reapers' Game, if it wasn't for Shiki being my entry fee in the second week...I would've had nothing to go back to. Even Joshua realized that saying there was no real reason for me to live again....that I'd be just as alone in the RG as I was in the UG.” Neku said hanging his head

 

Beat then had to add something after hearing that

 

"But Phones dat can't be true yo. Your mom and dad? I getcha...parents jus' don't get it...like they don't wanna listen ta us... but wid Prissy Boy...you really mean that? About Shiki?" Beat said feeling his eyes water a little

 

"Yeah...I could've easily stayed dead...but...I didn't cause I wanted to meet her at Hachikco like I promised her...my parents just...made me feel like, I had no one to turn to" the firey haired teen said hiding his eyes in his bangs and hands in his pockets

 

"Phones" Beat said sadly "dat's so messed up"

 

Rhyme then hanged her head knowing that her parents would compare Beat to her, and how that hurt him too

 

“Sometimes I feel like I have no one to turn to either” Rhyme said sadly

 

Neku and Beat then raised their heads and looked at her in shock

 

“huh? But you have Beat. I, until I met you guys, I didn’t have anyone to turn to when my parents got mad at me. Why do you feel like that?” Neku said concerned

 

“yeah Rhyme, You’ve always got me yo…how come you feel so alone ‘n stuff?” Beat said looking at Rhyme

 

Rhyme then sighed

 

“It’s cause they put me on a pedestal, like I’m perfect” she said crossing her arms

 

“They always tell Beat to be like me, that I have a future, that I’ll go far in life. I made good grades when I was alive, while Beat always struggled, so they’d always use that against him! There’s so much pressure! I can’t afford to mess up Neku, cause then…they wouldn’t like me anymore. I wouldn’t be their perfect kid anymore”

 

Neku then looked down feeling sad for them both. Everyone paused for a few seconds as they all thought about the sadness they all felt. Then Neku raised his head to look back at Rhyme

 

“But then…how come you didn’t turn to Beat? He could’ve at least helped you feel better right?” Neku asked curiously

 

“That’s because I didn’t want him to worry about me. I wanted him to be happy” Rhyme replied

 

She then looked up and smiled

 

“But no matter what happens, I learned that hardships allow us to grow as people. No matter how bad things get, there’s a way out” she said happily

 

“that’s what the Reapers’ Game taught me, even if I lost everything, and I can’t get my entry fee back, here I am, surrounded by people that like me. People that I know would do anything for me” Rhyme said smiling

 

Neku then smiled back at Rhyme along with Beat

 

“Yeah, it kinda taught me that too” Neku said sincerely

 

Beat then chuckled

 

“You always know jus’ what to say Rhyme. You always so good wid words yo. That stuff jus’ ain’t me heh heh”

 

Rhyme then giggled

 

“He’s got a point you know. You’ve always been there for us, even in the RG. It’s like, you’re the glue that keeps us all together. with you in our little group of friends Rhyme, if that ever changed, if you were gone…I don’t know what’d we do. It wouldn’t feel the same. When we’re with you, you just…shine…you make us…happy. That’s why I knew when Anthony targeted you that I had to be there for you, just like how you’ve been there for me” Neku said happily

 

Rhyme then looked at Beat and Neku in shock

 

“I’m what keeps you all together?” she said in disbelief

 

“of course man. We all gotcha back Rhyme, so we’d never want to do anythin’ widout you yo! You ain’t jus’ my li’l sister anymore. Thanks to the Reapers’ Game, you’ve turned into somethin’ more, now tons of people care about you Rhyme. You make us happy” Beat said giving her a thumbs up

 

“He’s right you know, Shiki feels the same way. Back when we were alive, she even told me how she’s glad that you got out of the Game, that you’re okay, and that she really liked talking to you in the UG and wanted to know you more” Neku added

 

“really?” Rhyme said happily

 

“You bet, and now you have Eri too. I guess you really are Angel like, you just make everyone feel…happy. You’re just so open and trusting to others, the exact opposite of me back then. Maybe that’s why your Angel energy is so intune with how you feel. You’re just…awesome Rhyme” Neku said smiling with his left hand upward

 

Rhyme then giggled

 

“thanks Neku, but don’t forget, you’re an Angel too. You’re really awesome and nice, and caring and really artistic and stuff. You’re just…really cool and smart, so don’t forget that that energy is part of you too” Rhyme said smiling

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“You know it, in the end, it was Mr. H who was protecting me when you guys were trying to reach the Demon Lord’s throne room before Anthony won. He’s just so amazing, all the things he’s done for us. I’m glad that I got to know him, that we got to know him…cause I owe so much to Mr. H. I’m glad he’s our friend” he said betting that Mr. H heard that

 

Mr. H, sketching graffiti in his house heard Neku’s comment, which made him smile.

 

“thanks Phones” Mr. H thought

 

Rhyme then had an idea

 

“You know how you said Shiki wants to know me better? Well…what if I send to her what I told you about myself as an imprint?” she said smiling

 

Neku then smiled back

 

“that’s a good idea” he added

 

Rhyme then chuckled and closed her eyes and then opened them, being done with her imprint. after that, they decided to leave the Underpass and go to a not as haunting part of Shibuya and headed to Spain Hill

 

In the mean time Eri and Shiki were about to head to Joshua’s district to discuss when to tell Neku the news when at that moment she heard what Rhyme told Neku and Beat in her head

 

“Huh? Rhyme? I never knew…she’s gone through a lot too” Shiki said sadly

 

Then Eri heard Ryme’s Imprint too

 

“Hey…I got the same words too, I guess…Rhyme wants me to know her too” Eri said happily

 

The two girls then looked at each other and smiled

 

“I’m glad that your friends like me Shiki” Eri added “cause I want to know them too”

 

“Maybe before this is over, you can know them. After all, I know Neku wants to know, and so does Beat and Rhyme…Joshua…well you know how he is” Shiki said smiling

 

Eri then giggled

 

“yeah but…he doesn’t seem like such a bad guy. A little creepy but…good. He’s a good person deep down you know?” Eri added

 

“definitely” Shiki said happily

 

The two girls then smiled again and went to Joshua to discuss what they should do. As they did, Neku was at Beat and Rhyme’s house showing them how he had to play Tin Pin Slammer in the UG. They played several rounds with Neku winning each one.

 

“Whoa, how’d you get so good Neku?” Rhyme said eager

 

“well, I had to win the Game no matter what, so when I got lucky with Sota winning the round, I was determined not to screw up again making me want to get better at the game. So eventually when we won the Reapers’ Game I practiced playing it, just to be safe since Reapers can go to the RG” Neku answered

 

“heh that’s a good idea Phones, since they could be anywhere, who knows when someone could end up in the UG again right?” Beat said smiling

 

"how you able to remember alla the rules to that yo? it seems all hard 'n stuff man" he asked

 

Neku then chuckled

 

"well it's not that hard for me man. It's just memorization and stuff, plus practicing it helped me remember...then again I also remember that you never did have the best memory, like how you couldn't even remember Reaper Sport 4. Eventhough you had only stopped being a Reaper two days ago back then" he said with his right hand on his hip

"BWAAAAAH! what the hell yo? that's low Phones, bustin' mah berries 'bout that" Beat shouted

he then slouched looking down

 

"that ain't cool man" Beat said a little sad

 

fearing that he may have insulted him, Neku then walked up to Beat

 

"hey man, don't take it like that, I was only kidding and--

 

Beat then looked up at him and smiled

 

"gotcha Phones" he thought

 

Beat then pulled Neku over to him and gave him a nuggie making Neku smile and laugh

 

After the nuggie was over they then giggled and continued to walk around Shibuya after doing this for a bit longer, Neku decided to walk on his own and Beat and Rhyme smiled telling him to let them know when he wants to hang out again. 

 

As this happened Shiki and Eri then went to the Composer District and tried to find Joshua, as they looked for him, their Angel auras appeared to protect them as other Death Gods roamed the area

 

“hey, it’s Mr. H again” Eri said happily as she looked at her hands seeing the aura

 

“yeah…this is just like how he protected Neku, I remember this aura going around him too” Shiki said sweetly

 

They then walked over to Joshua who was analyzing who had to die, and saw that a few more people had to die.

 

“It’s not the right time yet, one of these people is destined to die at 4:35pm while choking on a meal” Joshua thought

 

Hearing such a menacing thought, the girls then stopped walking and watched the menacing God of Death as he waited for the time to pass in the RG

 

 

 

“Satoshi Iwata, age twenty three. Blood type O, born March 21st, 1992. Type of death: Natural” Joshua thought

 

The girls then approached Joshua slowly and then stood near him looking through his portal (with their Angel Auras still protecting them)

 

Joshua then looked into the man’s house and saw that it was 4:29pm on a near by clock, and saw Satoshi begin to eat a Tatsumi burger. Feeling a little hungry, he began to eat the burger quickly. The time passed and finally it was his time of passing causing Joshua to cross his arms as he stared at his portal.

 

“Suffer” he imprinted

 

The man then died at 4:35 like he was suppose to, making the girls gasp as Satoshi fell to the floor dead.

 

“that’s…so cruel” Eri thought frightened

 

“Is that what his roll really is?” Shiki thought

 

Joshua then sighed and looked behind him

 

“so, you two wanted to speak to me about Neku?” Joshua said nonchalantly

 

Eri then looked at him in shock

 

“Wh-What?! How did you know that?” she said startled

 

Joshua then chuckled and became his human form, making the Angel auras disappear.

 

 

 

“I’m a God of Death Eri, so I’m pretty omniscient. I can sense energy all around me at all times” he said flicking his hair

 

“Oh..right” Eri said bashfully

 

 

 

The two girls then glided to him and told Joshua what they wanted to do.

 

“I see. It was a good idea to tell Eri about this Shiki. After all she IS your best friend, so it’s good to have such trustworthy imput on this situation” Joshua said with his hands in his back pockets smiling

 

“I think that’s a good idea, it’ll allow Neku to hopefully adjust better to what the Higher Ups have agreed to” he added

 

“so should we tell him now?” Shiki asked

 

Joshua then chuckled and walked back to his portal

 

“Follow me” he said walking away.

 

They then glided to Joshua and watched through his portal that was currently the RG. He then snapped his fingers, making his portal watch over the HP Shibuya again seeing the sunset over the area. Shiki and Eri smiled as they all watched Neku walk around the city.

 

 

 

To be continued…


	41. True Friends

As Neku walked around the city, he knew exactly where he wanted to do and continued drinking his soda. Once it was completely empty, he tossed it behind him making it dissolve.

 

“Rhyme…you helped me more then you realize. Thanks for what you said, I’ll make sure to keep my demon energy under control” Neku thought as he walked

 

He then leaped into the air and glided around the city for a while only to then gently float down and walked to the back streets of Udagawa.

 

Seeing the back streets Neku couldn’t help but think about his death in front of the tag mural, making him clasp his shoulder as he walked, feeling vulnerable.

 

“This is…where everything started” he thought “from becoming more and more passionate for CAT and his work, to entering the Reapers’ Game…my death…it all started here. Who would’ve thought that this one place…this one little spot in Shibuya, could hold so much importance”

 

He then unclasped his shoulder and walked to the tag mural standing in front of it. Seeing the graffiti of the man, Guardian, and Angel that’s been watching over him all this time keeping him safe, couldn’t help but put a smile on Neku’s face as he looked at the Ghost Cat

 

Neku then extends out his right hand and placed it on the mural smiling at the artwork again and then closed his eyes, hiding his mouth in his collar.

 

“Focus” he said aloud

 

Neku then opened his eyes and saw the world within his mind causing him to look behind him to see white masks on the ground.

 

Neku then chuckled and snapped his fingers making all the masks vanish. After that he faced the tag mural again and held out his left hand recreating the demon energy core.

 

It first appeared as a black mist before taking on its true form. Neku then faced his left to see the black energy core as a black fire with purple-blue color in the center, like the eye of the core. Once Neku looked at it, it turned into its puff of smoke form where it looks like Neku.

 

“Is something wrong?” it asked

 

Neku then crossed his arms

 

“Yeah” he replied

 

“It was Shiki, she was in trouble” he explained “and I could sense how she was in pain, and how that pain worsened as she fought Yamato, a bully from my school. I felt so angry that the next thing I knew, the Staccato Demon energy took over me”

 

The demon smoke Neku then became his demon form and stood before Neku, being like a reflection of him rather than its own person.

 

“why did you corrupt me? I thought you changed” Neku said with his left hand outward and right hand in his pocket

 

The demon core Damien then clasped his shoulder

 

“that is the nature of Demon energy Neku. It becomes amplified by intense feelings. The more intense the feeling is, the more it grows in power, increasing the power of the demon energy. It feeds off of that intensity making it harder and harder to control” Demon core Damien replied

 

Neku then clasped his shoulder making the fake Damien let go of his shoulder and place his hands in his pockets

 

“Yeah…I know how that feels…I am its power source after all, so how can I stop that? I gotta maintain that control. I know I’ve gotten a lot better at controlling it, to the point I can unleash it at will, but it still breaks lose sometimes” Neku said weakly

 

“Exactly and that breaking of the control is through it spiking up as feeds off of your anger. You ARE its power source, so remember this Neku, remember how risky it is to lose control over this power. You have to stay strong, believe in your own power that you can control your demon energy and use that power with your mind to force that control on the energy” the fake Damien said wisely

 

Neku then smiled

 

“Heh I get it” he said a little happy “I’ve had it under control for a while, so all I gotta do is focus in forcing it to shut down to manipulate the energy more right?”

 

“exactly” the demon core replied

 

He then walked closer to Neku and stood in front of him and placed his right hand on his chest exposing the center of the demon energy core.

 

“this is the center of the demon energy core” he explained taking his hand off of his chest “If you allow the center of the demon core to have more of a connection to you, it’ll allow you to have an even stronger connection to it”

 

“Due to how your control’s weakened a little, if you connect to the core, it’ll restore your control to when Shiki first removed demon energy from your mind. After all, you remember what you said when you unleashed a demon roar right?” Damien said

 

Neku then placed his left hand on his hip with a smug smile on his face

 

“Yeah, I said back then…I can control it now” he said getting what to do

 

Neku then closed his eyes and placed his hands on his head, hiding his mouth.

 

“Open up, your senses” he said out loud

 

He then opened his eyes and smiled as he extended his right hand into the center of the demon energy core. It burned but not too much, it felt warm, due to the demon energy right down to the core, was more tame and not corruptive anymore (unless Neku loses control of course)

 

“I get it now, I lost control cause my anger spiked up the energy, it’s not evil anymore, it’s not corruptive anymore. It was my anger that pushed it up to that point but I’ve got this. I’ll push out my horizons to expand my world, to grow stronger” he thought as the center touched his hand

 

He then placed his hand down and opened his eyes

 

“I felt the energy and how powerful, yet tame I really was. But now that I have a connection to the core, now I’ve got this…thanks” Neku said sincerely

 

The demon core reflection then placed his right hand on his chest again and closed the hole in his chest.

 

“any time, now you don’t need to worry, now you have control again” he replied

 

He then became the demon energy core and dissolved into the air. Neku then turned to the tag mural again and smiled at the ghost cat and walked away from it as he left Udagawa. He then stopped, still in the back streets and then did his usual focusing pose again and closed his eyes.

 

He then opened them and saw he was back in the HP Shibuya on the road that lead to his house. At that moment Joshua contacted him

 

“I see you have your demon energy under control now. Good work Neku. By the way, Shiki and Eri are in my district using their Angel forms testing each other’s strength, and they were wondering if you wanted to join them” Joshua said telepathically

 

Neku then closed his eyes

 

“Yeah, that sounds really cool. Tell ‘em I’ll be there soon” Neku said mentally

 

“Alright, I suppose I’ll see you soon” Joshua said mentally again

 

Neku then asked Beat and Rhyme if they wanted to go and they of course said yes. Neku then opened his eyes and Beat and Rhyme teleported to him, making him smile and Beat nudge Neku’s left arm after they all smiled and laughed they then teleported to the Composer District.

 

At that moment, during their sparing, Eri blasted Shiki to the ground causing her to teleport to the ground and land on it while sliding. Eri then flew down and stood in front of her and they shook hands

 

“You did great Eri” Shiki said happily

 

“thanks, it helps that I was able to catch up to guys with that Angel training” she said smiling

 

“and on top of that, just like us, you’re on par with Mr. H so that’s a huge accomplishment” Shiki added

 

The two girls then giggled and powered down seeing Beat Rhyme and Neku glide to them.

 

“Hey guys, I guess you got Joshua’s message huh Neku?” Shiki said smiling

 

“Yup and Beat and Rhyme wanted to hang out too” he said smiling at her

 

As he glided to her and Eri he told them, and Beat and Rhyme what he had accomplished

 

“I have some cool news guys, I have full control over my demon energy again, to the point I’ve merged with the center of the demon energy core” he added

 

He and the others then landed in front of them

 

“heh that’s great Neku!” Shiki said happily with Mr. Mew clapping as it sat on her shoulder

 

“yeah that’s awesome” Eri added

 

“I’m glad dat demon crap is now under control for good yo. It ain’t easy havin’ to deal wid alla that” Beat said smiling

 

“same here, that’s just so cool Neku” Rhyme added

 

Joshua then chuckled

 

“Indeed it is. So is there anything you want to do?” Joshua asked

 

“Well I kinda want to hangout here a little longer” Shiki added hinting that she would reveal everything later

 

Joshua then looked at her with his hands in his pockets smiling as he go the hint

 

“alright then, I have some more Death God things to attend to, then I’ll be right back” he said waving his hand

 

“okay, see you later” Shiki said smiling

 

Neku and the other friends then watched him leave at that moment Mr. H appeared to them as an orb of light

 

“So what do you wanna do Neku?” Eri asked

 

"Not sure" Neku said rubbing his head shy

 

at that moment Neku saw a white orb causing him to look towards it

 

“hey Eri, look behind you” he said smiling

 

She then did that and saw the orb along with Shiki (who stood next to her)

 

The orb then became Mr. H

 

“Heh, hey there Mr. H” Neku said smiling at him

 

“Hey there Phones” Mr. H said with his hand on his neck

 

“I heard the good news, that you have full control over the demon core now” he added as walked to them

 

“yeah it’s finally all better” Neku replies “So, do you wanna hangout or something?”

 

“Sure you know me Phones, I love getting a break” the Angel said happily

 

“that gives me an idea” Eri added “You know how you trained with Mr. H and Joshua and got better at fighting cause of that?”

 

“yeah I remember that” Neku said smiling with his left hand upward

 

Eri then giggled

 

“then how about you show us some of the stuff they taught you? That is, if you don’t mind of course” she said sweetly

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“Alright, that sounds like a good idea” he said with his hand on his hip

 

He then teleported a few feet from them with Mr. H following him, a little shocked at him agreeing to fight the man he respects so much.

 

“hey Phones you sure you’re okay with this?” Mr. H asked

 

Neku then smiled at Mr. H

 

“Yeah don’t worry Mr. H, I know you wouldn’t try to hurt me, ever. The only time that happened was cause you were forced to attack. I know you wouldn’t do that on your own. I trust you” Neku said sincerely

 

Mr. H then scratched his neck chuckling

 

“well thanks Neku, that means a lot to me, I’m glad you trust me enough to do this” he said happily

 

“any time” Neku replied

 

They both then got into a fighting stance

 

Neku then ran to Mr. H with energy charged in his hands and attempted to punch him, Mr. H then dodged the punches causing Neku to do a sweep kick making him fall backwards. Neku then leaped towards Mr. H again to punch him only to have the angel teleport away. Being behind Neku he blasted Angel energy at him.

 

Sensing the energy, Neku swung his right hand behind him and blocked the energy. Impressed, Mr. H then smiled and snapped his fingers with his left hand and made the energy dissolve. He then leaped into the air and flew to Neku attempting to punch him.

 

Neku then looked behind him and blocked Mr. H’s punches while simultaneously building energy in him, making him glow a darkblue aura. It then blasted Mr. H away causing Neku to teleport to him as he flew. The Angel then grabbed Neku’s left arm and swung him to the ground. Mr. H then teleported to the ground and dissolved his wings as he tried to punch him again.

 

As they spared, someone else appeared and jumped into the fight. As Neku and Mr. H attempted to punch each other with their fists engulfed in energy, Joshua dove to Neku from his right and attempted to punch him.

 

Catching on to Joshua’s presence, he saw him from the corner of his eye and teleported into the air swishing down to them (dodging Joshua’s punch) and pushed the back of Mr. H and Joshua’s heads to each other making them smack into each other.

 

Neku then leaped away from them with a smirk on his face

 

“that was nothin’” he said in his fighting stance

 

The two immortal friends then charged up to Neku and both fired energy at him causing Neku to dodge the attacks they then attempted to punch and kick him again only to have someone else join the fight…

 

“Let’s see what you can do Neku” she thought smiling at him

 

“you got it” Neku said telepathically as he smiled back

 

Shiki Joshua and Mr. H then all attacked him causing Neku to block Mr. H and Joshua’s blows. as he did this, Shiki and Mr. Mew flew to him causing Neku to throw Shiki to Joshua knocking the both of them back, sending them away from him. Beat then joined in and tried to punch Neku only for him to get sent flying back by Neku blasting energy at him.

 

Mr. H then attempted to punch Neku again only to have Neku grab his right hand and toss him away from him. Rhyme and Eri then joined in causing Neku to block Eri’s energy blasts and see Rhyme fly towards him. He then grabbed her left hand and swung her away.

 

All of his friends then raced to Neku causing him to use an imprint

 

“Go, back off!” he thought

 

At that moment, when they all surrounded Neku, he blasted them away with a blast of sound (creating a sonic boom) as a dome of wind sending them all flying back. They then all got back up with Neku’s friends looking at him amazed, with the acception of Joshua and Mr. H who looked at him with pride.

 

“Good work Neku” Joshua said smiling as he walked to him

 

Mr. H then walked to him too also smiling

 

“You did a great job Phones” he said happily

 

“heh, you taught me well Mr. H” Neku said smiling

 

When his friends all caught up to him, they all added to how cool they thought he was to handle so many opponents.

 

“there’s one more thing I wanna test out” Mr. H added

 

“We both know you’ve gotten stronger but I want to see how far your energy has progressed” he explained

 

“alright, sounds like a good idea” Neku said smiling

 

“Good, let’s get started” Mr. H said smiling

 

He walked a few feet away from Neku and friends and became his true form extending out his Angel wings to his full power, making them at twelve feet long.

 

“think back to how you blocked my energy for the first time Phones. we’re gonna try that again cause the only time you blocked Angel energy on your own was through your strength, like in the Angels’ Game or when you pushed yourself to block Joshua’s energy in his human form. Since we’re powered down in our human forms, I want to see what you can do at full power” he explained

 

“after all, you took on the demon Lord with your power Phones, so I know you’ve got this” Mr. H said proudly

 

“thanks CAT” Neku said telepathically while getting into his fighting stance

 

“Alright, here it comes” Mr. H announced

 

He then fired his Angel energy at Neku

 

“I’ve got this” he thought “I won’t falter anymore, you taught me better than that”

 

Neku then snapped his fingers transforming into his most powerful form (of his energy alone) his energy armor and shot his energy at Mr. H’s. the moment they clashed Neku felt Mr. H’s energy begin to push his energy back, it steadily pushed Neku’s back making his hands burn

 

“Nnngh! I…I’ve got this!” he muttered

 

The energy began to push Neku’s back even more making his hands shake as they were getting pushed back towards his chest. Seeing this made Shiki and the others (aside from Joshua) worried

 

“Neku, you need to stop” Shiki said worried causing a sad Mr. Mew to hang its head while sitting on her shoulder

 

“I’ve expanded my world before” he thought “So now, I’ll push my mind even further!”

 

He then closed his eyes and his energy armor broke off, making Neku roar as his energy bursted out of him surrounding his body and flickering like fire. He was nearly at his last layer of energy with his body being white but his clothes and hair were tinted blue and his eyes were blank being colored darkblue . He then opened his eyes and roared like a lion as he extended his hands out blasting Mr. H’s energy back at him, though not completely.

 

His energy broke apart and Mr. H made his energy dissolve while returning to his human form (though his wings were still out).

 

“Phones!” he cried out of worry

 

He then flew to Neku seeing him clench his right arm while panting out of exhaustion. He then fell forward nearly passing out but felt someone catch him, steadying him by placing their hands on his shoulders. He then opens his eyes to see his Guardian friend looking concerned at him.

 

“You okay Neku? You really scared us” he said concerned

 

“Nnngh! Yeah, I’m fine…did…did I, really do it Mr. H?” Neku asked

 

Mr. H then smiled

 

“Yup by pushing yourself as hard as you could, your energy became like fire again and pushed back my energy. But…

 

Mr. H then closed his eyes wrapping Neku in white Angel energy healing him of his fatigue and then opened his eyes letting go of Neku, happy to see him stand on his own.

 

“You need to be careful. It’s good to expand your world and go beyond your limits Phones, but you need to know when to draw the line. Yes, you did push my energy back when I was in my true form, but used so much energy from you, that you nearly broke apart to your last layer of energy” he said sternly

 

“You never cease to amaze me you know, human souls aren’t suppose to be able to do what you just did, eventhough human souls have been tested on, they usually all fade when doing this. So you need to be careful, never push yourself to that point ever again unless there’s no other option, understand?” Mr. H added

 

Neku then clasped his shoulder

 

“yeah, I understand…thanks Mr. H, you’re always there…making sure I’m safe and--

 

Mr. H then nudged Neku’s left forearm making him look up at the Angel

 

“Don’t mention it Neku. I’ll always be there to help” he said smiling

 

Neku then did the same and nodded his head

 

His friends then ran up to him and he reassured them that he was okay, causing Shiki

 

“hee hee, you really are such a unique form of energy, since you were able to block Mr. H’s energy that means you can now block my true form’s energy too. And on top of that, Shiki‘s almost on par with you now” Joshua said with his hands in his pockets

 

“Seriously?!” Neku said in shock

 

“Yup her energy armor is almost at the same power as yours” Joshua said with his hands in his front pockets

 

“that reminds me” he added “do you remember how I told you how I once lived in the RG?”

 

“yeah” Neku replied crossing his arms

 

“BWAAHAAAH! YOU WERE LIVIN' IN SHIBUYA PRISSY BOY?!” Beat roared in shock

 

Shiki then chuckled

 

"Beat you don't remember? Joshua imprinted that information for us too, so we could know him better like Neku" Shiki said sweetly

 

Beat then scratched his head a little embarrased

 

"Well now I do yo. It's jus' crazy 'n stuff to really accept 'n alla dat you know?" Beat said a little shy

 

Rhyme then smiled too

 

"It really is, I still can't get over it either" she said with a little giggle

 

“yeah...I always thought you were just....a god in human form, from what Shiki and her friends told me” Eri added

 

Joshua then chuckled

 

“I can see why you thought that, and while that is technically true, I was just a normal person, in other words, I'm really human, like you” he explained

 

“anyways, I was going to say that during your time in the Reapers’ Game Neku, I could sense how you and your frinds were getting stronger imagination, and how in doing so, you all could be like me. My imagination and more powerful soul allowed me to recreate the form of Angels through energy, it’s the way I’d attack the Noise with Neku That is also why I am able to summon Angel wings” Joshua said nonchalantly

 

Neku and friends looked in shock

 

“so then…you’re part Angel?” Neku said weakly

 

Joshua then closed his eyes and created Angel wings, shocking Shiki and the others aside from Neku.

 

“well no, but Angels and Composers are very close in terms of power, being right next to each other in ranking. Reapers can become this powerful too. If they have a powerful enough imagination, they can go beyond Composer Status and become an Angel, and those with strong minds can become Reapers if they wish. Like you Beat” the Composer added

 

Beat just starred at Joshua realizing what he really wanted back then in the UG how unimaginable his goal was: to become the next Composer

 

“whoa that’s really intense” Eri said startled

 

“yeah to know when my brother was a Reaper, he could’ve achieved Angel status” Rhyme said in shock

 

“So even if he’s not on par with Neku, Beat’s mind was already powerful? That’s why he was able to become a Reaper?” Shiki asked

 

“Exactly” Joshua replied

 

“Damn, I always knew I was tough yo, but I had no idea that meant I had a strong mind man” Beat said surprised

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“C’mon man of course you have a strong mind. It was your determination to save Rhyme that got us to the Shibuya River and the Composer’s pad…you don’t see it but…you taught me how far loyalty can push someone. You showed me how far it can take you. And Rhyme reaffirmed how important it is to have that sense of loyalty, to show what I've always valued, really was important” Neku said smiling

 

“You really mean dat yo?” Beat asked

 

“well…yeah, each one of you guys all helped me back then in the Game” Neku replied

 

Neku’s other friends (Eri and Rhyme) then added that they were happy that they helped him too. After that they all decided to relax in the meadows of the Composer district. Then, after relaxing there for a while Neku decided to ask Eri how she met Shiki.

 

“So Eri, I was just wondering…could you tell us how you and Shiki met?” he asked sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees.

 

Eri, who was laying in the meadow letting the grass tickle her legs then sat up, causing Neku’s other friends to do the same.

 

“sure thing Neku” she said smiling at him

 

“You don’t mind do you Shiki?” she asked her longtime friend

 

Shiki then smiled at her

 

“No, I don’t mind at all. Infact I was kinda wanting to tell you guys about that at one point, so fire away” Shiki said happily with Mr. Mew nodding its head as it sat next to her

 

Eri then smiled at her and agreed to tell everyone.

 

“okay…it all started a while back” Eri explained

 

“Back then I had a ton of friends, including Ai and Mina. We’d always hang out together after school and go to 104 to go buy clothes and stuff. I remember at one point seeing Shiki, but I didn’t know her. She was just some girl in the mall you know?” she added

 

“I’ve always loved fashion. Even as a kid I’d draw the clothes I want to wear. Eventually as I got older, my mom noticed that I really liked shopping and designing clothes to the point she saw that I had drawn different designs and that they all had a ton of detail. She’s the one that taught me how to put designs on fabric and clothes. Once I got really good, I made the clothes that I wear now” Eri said smiling

 

“that’s really cool Eri, you really made those?” Rhyme asked intrigued

 

“Yup….but it wasn’t easy. It usually takes me a while to make the clothes since I‘m better at adding designs to them, but even though I struggled with making the clothes, I still wanted to make and design clothes for a living, to make people happy with what they wear” Eri explained

 

“I knew that sewing the clothes at a faster rate was something that I needed help with. It felt like it was something that was holding me back. That is…until I met a certain someone” Eri said happily

 

She and Shiki then smiled at each other

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“I never knew how much of an impact Shiki had on Eri. It’s kinda cool” Neku thought seeing them smile

 

Eri then continued

 

“I still remember it too, the day I really met Shiki. The day I really got to be with her, instead of seeing her as a random shopper in 104” she said happily

 

“It was just another school day, the day ended and I took a stroll around the city. I went to 104 and browsed some of their clothes and after that I had some ramen at Ramen Don. Then after that I remember heading to Hachiko just to see if I could find someone to talk to and when I got there, I saw someone sitting on one of the metal bars that are near the statue sewing something” she said looking at Shiki

 

Shiki then giggled

 

“she was adding the final touched to her toy, and when I saw it I sat next to her and she explained everything. Shiki told me that she had just finished sewing Mr. Mew and I told her that it looks great, like a toy someone would buy at a store. After talking about the toy we discussed our goals. We just clicked and couldn’t stop talking and when we learned we had the same goal, we decided to make clothes together” Eri added

 

“To make a long story short, we made tons of stuff together and even a huge Mr. Mew suit….come to think of it, I don’t even remember how we pulled that off. Anyways, we spent a lot of time together both in and out of school…but as we did I sort of noticed something with Shiki” she said in a sad tone making Shiki look down sad

 

“whenever I’d see her she’d look at my other friends, then back to me. Whenever I’d have to leave her to go to a class we didn’t share and my other friends walked with me…it felt like she watched me…and when I looked her, she almost looked angry, and sad”

 

“I tried to brush it off like it was nothing. And to end all of this already, I visited her house one day and I saw her really frustrated she was working on adding a design to a shirt she made. Then…I…I told her, she’s not meant to be a designer. I meant it as a complement! That she’s an excellent seamstress. I had no idea she was jealous of me. That she thought I was better than her and prettier than her” she said woefully

 

“That that’s what she’s great at…but the next day…she died. I knew then that it was all my fault. I never got to tell her I was sorry until I died” Eri concluded

 

Neku and friends all filled with sadness (other then Joshua who merely looked at Shiki) hanged their heads

 

“and then she woke up in the UG, with your body” Neku said darkly

 

“yeah…to know that all that time, it was an act, that Shiki was pretending to be you” Rhyme said sadly

 

“But it don’t matter now yo. Now you guys got each other ‘n stuff yo” Beat said lifting his head smiling a little

 

Neku Rhyme and Shiki then lifted their heads up and smiled. Shiki was about to then try to reveal to Neku and the others what Joshua had said but he cuts her off remarking on what had just been said and chuckled.

 

“You know, this means that if Shiki and Eri don’t achieve their dream of being in the fashion industry, Shiki would be quite the actress” he said pulling back his hair

 

Shiki then looked down filled with sadness at that possibility, causing Mr. Mew to slouch hanging its head. Seeing so much sadness reflected on Shiki, Neku became angry at Joshua seeing how that hurt her

 

He then stood up and shook his fist

 

“Rrrgh! Cut the crap Joshua! Of course Shiki will make it! Why wouldn’t she?! Shiki and Eri are a great team together! The balance out each other’s strengths and weaknesses! How the hell could you have the stones to say they’d fail?! That’s her passion!” Neku roared

 

Joshua then chuckled again

 

“I mean that as a complement Neku. Shiki was able to hide all aspects of her personality while in the UG, until she told you how she really felt. As an actor, one must fit into their roll, and become the character, removing any hint of their personality see? So by Shiki being able to do this, and with no acting lessons, she has mastered a skill that’s crucial for an actor or actress to learn” Joshua explained with a smug smile

 

Shiki, Eri and the rest then stood up looking at Joshua in shock

 

“You really think so Joshua?” Shiki asked

 

“Hee hee, of course. You proved that in the first week after all” Joshua said standing up

 

“oh…I guess I really did” Shiki said smiling a little

 

They then looked at each other and back at Joshua

 

“Damn yo, who woulda thought Prissy Boy will say sucha thing man? Heh Shiki could be actin’ ‘n stuff yo. That’s tight” Beat said smiling at her

 

Shiki then giggled causing everyone to smile at her, glad that she’s happy. She then turned to Neku hoping he’d be okay.

 

“hey Neku…um there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you and everyone else…I wasn’t really sure what to say though, so I told Eri first” she said bashfully

 

Neku then crossed his arms

 

“Huh? Shiki what’s up?” he asked curiously

 

“Well Joshua told me something and I wasn’t sure how to handle it until now…I

 

Shiki then hangs her head a little sad, making Neku concerned

 

“Shiki? Is something wrong? whatever it is, I can handle it. What did Joshua say?” Neku asked

 

“Neku…are you sure?" She says raising her head "I just don’t want you to get sad so--

 

Neku then smiled at her

 

“I can handle it Shiki, that’s a promise” he said sweetly

 

She then smiled and took a deep breath

 

“okay, Joshua had a talk with the Higher Ups and asked them to do something for him…and they accepted it. Neku, everyone…they’re…gonna bring us back to life” she said weakly

 

Her friends then looked at her in shock. They were speechless for a few seconds…but then they all exclaimed how they felt to Shiki, with Beat and Rhyme being especially happy. She then looked at Neku

 

“this is awesome Shiki! I can’t believe it, they’re really letting us go back?! That’s amazing” Neku said happily

 

“yeah now we can live again!” Shiki said happily “and we can leave whenever we want, right Joshua?”

 

She then looked at him

 

“Exactly, just say the word and we’ll send you all back” Joshua exclaimed

 

Neku and friends then told him that they’ll let him know when they want to leave. After having fun in the Composer district flying around as Angels, and crashing into each other from flying at mach speeds they all returned back to the Fledgling district to relax.


	42. Sorrow

As they all relaxed in their homes all filled with happiness about how they can return home, Neku was in his room laying on his bed thinking about the consequences of them being alive. He knows that it’s a good thing, that they’ll be alive again when they choose to leave the Higher Plane, but he also knew something else…it was something that tore him apart.

 

“They’re really letting us come back to life? Joshua…did he really ask the Higher Ups to do that? If he really did then….why? He’s the one that said I should accept that this is my home now right? But…he really did it, didn’t he? Now that we know we’ll see our families again, do we really need to go back at all? Why does Joshua want us to leave?” he wondered

 

Neku then got up from his bed and placed his hands in his pockets closing his eyes as he set up an Imprint.

 

“I…I need to be alone…just for a while, so I can think about this. Right now I…need time to myself”

 

He then opened his eyes and at that moment Neku set up a special barrier around his half of the house, making it impossible for people to enter his house from the outside and altered his presence on the inside of the house, making it like he’s not there. So he doesn’t get visitors.

 

After that Neku then left his room and walked to a certain hall way in his home. Although he knew he was dead, and by now has accepted it, there was one room he never dared to enter, he just knew it’d be too painful to visit, but now, thanks to him being stronger, he feels he can handle being in that room. even though he felt hesitant, Neku walked to his parents room and stood in front of the door.

 

He then sighed and phased through the door seeing his parent’s bedroom, seeing it empty with a sort of coldness to it. There was no life in the room, filling him with heartache.

 

It was like a smack in the face, he knew his parents were alive, and he knows that he lives alone in the afterlife, but knowing that he can come back, knowing that his home won’t be empty, it was like he really knew what it felt to be alone.

 

He walked around the room and stood in front of the room’s mirror, seeing nothing but himself there.

 

“No one’s here…but me” he thought sadly

 

Neku then walked up to his parents’ bed and saw it neatly folded, remembering how his mother liked making beds nice and clean. It brought back a certain memory to him.

 

He remembered when he was six years old.

 

“Mommy, daddy” he said as a little kid

 

It was 2:30 am and he had just entered his parents’ room

 

“I had a bad dream” he said sadly

 

Neku’s mother, being tender and loving to her son then smiled at him

 

“it’s okay Neky, come here” she said sweetly

 

The little boy then ran to his mother and she raised him up to her bed, knowing it was a little higher then him, since he was so small, and placed her beside him smiling at him.

 

“You can sleep with me if it’ll help you” she said smelling

 

Neku’s father then patted his head

 

“whenever you feel scared Neku, just know that we’ll always be here for you” his dad said smiling

 

Neku then smiled at his parents and his flashback ended

 

“But…now you’re not here anymore…now no one’s here” he said weakly hiding his face in his collar with his hands in his pockets

 

“I could just as easily tap into my God energy and recreate them and Aya…but it wouldn’t be the same….it’d all be fake. They’d be nothing more than something I created” he thought

 

Neku then walked to his dad’s night table and saw the remote control to the TV on his side, like it always was. Once stood in front of it, Neku then reached hand out to the remote, but then drew his hand back after feeling how cold it was.

 

“Why am I doing this?” Neku thought “I know they’re not here, I know I’m dead but…why is it that now…it hits me the hardest? That they’re not here?”

 

Neku then thought it was best to leave the room. As he walked towards the door, he then stopped and hanged his head

 

“It’s funny” he thought “I’ve always wanted my own space…to go home and get away from it all. Just…to have my own world to retreat to. Mom and dad would do their own thing at home, and I’d be in my room…that is, until I’d go to Udagawa. I didn’t really spend time with them. Sure I’d say hello to them, and we’d talk, but most of the time I’d just be away from them”

 

He then walked out of the room and headed down the stairs to the first floor of their house and stood in front of the door that lead out of the house, about to leave it.

 

“Mom…dad…I’ve been dead for almost a whole year…are they still grieving? I know they’re doing better but still. Now all they have to remember me is everything in my room. Is that what it’s like for them? To see my room empty the way I saw their’s just now? To know that someone’s suppose to be in there…but they’re not” he thought clasping his shoulder

 

Neku then left the house, removing the barrier from his half of it, causing Shiki at that moment to feel Neku’s presence. She was watching TV when she felt her eyes water.

 

“Huh? Why do I feel so sad?” she thought

 

Shiki, with Mr. Mew walking next to her, then phased through her half of the house and went to Neku’s half.

 

“Hey Neku, are you okay?” she asked out loud

 

But there was no response. She then thought he might be in his room. Shiki then glided to it and stood in front of his bedroom door, and knocked on it. But again, heard no response.

 

Shiki then crossed her arms.

 

“I guess he’s not here” Shiki thought

 

She then glided back to her half of the house

 

“I wonder where he is? I hope he feels better. What’s got Neku so sad anyway? It can’t be what I told him, can it? No…he was so happy, almost…excited so…what’s made him feel this way? Does he need his space? Yeah…if he wanted to talk, I know he would” Shiki thought

 

“Please be happy Neku” She said weakly

 

As she resumed watching TV, Neku wondered the HP Shibuya still dealing with his thoughts. As Neku walked around Shibuya he couldn’t help but think about the Reaper’s Game, fighting along side his partners.

 

 

 

“I remember fighting a lot of weak Noise in the beginning, even if they’re not that strong, a Player is defenseless against the Noise without a partner. Without them, I wouldn’t even have been able to fight them off since most of my pins wouldn’t work unless I had a partner…well that is except for my Player pin. With out them…who knows how the Game would’ve turned out for me” he thought

 

As Neku’s sadness worsened he ended up taking all the multiple twists and turns he had to, to reach where he wanted to go. He ended up walking past Towa records and kept going until re headed up some stairs that lead to the store Wild Boar. Then finally right before him was his destination.

 

“Udagawa” Neku thought

 

He then walked closer to the tag mural and stood in front of CAT’s work

 

“CAT” he said weakly as he looked at the mural

 

“I…I don’t know why I feel like this…why do I feel like crap?” Neku said sadly

 

He then looked up at the Ghost Cat and smiled a little bit and then placed his right hand on the mural. After doing so, Neku then closed his eyes causing himself to see visions, making him feel a jolt in his head.

 

“Nnngh!” Neku grunted squeezing his head

 

It first started with his Demon visions. He saw himself in his Demon Lord clothes crying as Shiki was in her last layer of energy, slowly Fading away in front of him. It then showed the second half of the vision.

 

What was first a boy filled with grief over his dying friend, was now replaced with malevolence. He wore an evil smile and revealed shark teeth as he became Damien.

 

“N-Neku…please…don’t” Shiki wheezed

 

He then electrocuted with black demon energy her making the last layer surge like lightning making her scream in pain before dissolving into orbs

 

Neku then saw the vision Anthony sent in his head when he was being overwhelmed by demon energy as he fought him. He saw himself scream in his full demon form, as he became Damien.

 

Seeing all of this, understanding what the visions meant, Neku then was filled with frustration as he saw his last one. He saw the same vision he saw when he had first achieved God Status. He sees Shiki pressing her hands against his chest generating Angel energy as she cried out a certain sentence

 

“Neku…Neku please don’t go!” she whimpered

 

He then sees himself dissolve into his last layer of energy (seeing the 2nd half of the vision for the first time)

 

He sees all his friens take turns generating energy to save him, desperate to stabilize his energy. But as much as they tried, it was too late, and Neku saw Shiki run up to him screaming

 

“NEKU PLEASE DON’T--

 

And then he saw himself dissolve into four orbs, ending this chain of different visions making him pant out of breath.

 

“those visions…all of them, I couldn’t prevent any of it from happening!” he cried out

 

“How does the future begin with me, if I can’t even control it?!” he roared

 

Neku then hid his hands in his pockets and hid his face in his collar allowing his bangs to cover his eyes.

 

“Even if our actions affect the way we live, to determine our future…even if I can shape my future, I…I can only do it to a certain point cause then, everything else is uncertain” he said weakly

 

Neku then flashed back to the things his friends said in the Reapers’ Game

 

“Neku, that’s the first time you used my name”

 

“That’s why I’m scared! Scared of getting a second chance!”

 

“When you see the real me, will we still be friends?”

 

“Only when we let strangers in, will we find new ways to be ourselves”

 

“Understanding people isn’t hard Neku, it’s impossible”

 

“But Neku, I thought you couldn’t afford to lose…Give up on yourself, and you give up on the world”

 

“Listen up Phones, cause I ain’t askin’ twice, please help me. You gotta help me save her”

 

“You ain’t my partner no more man, you’re…my friend”

 

“Listen Phones, the world ends with you. If you want to enjoy life, expand your world. You gotta push out your horizons as far as they’ll go”

 

As his grief began to hurt even more Neku squeezed his hair again gritting his teeth as he felt his eyes burn.

 

“Why?! Why did I have to go through all of that? Why expand your world when…it’ll break apart the older you get?!” Neku thought

 

Another voice rang into Neku’s head, Joshua, and what he said about being alive.

 

“abandonment is apart of your world. nothing last forever in the Realground Neku, especially something as fragile as a friendship”

 

“people come and people go, whether they move away or die, or simply leave you out of not wanting to be with you or shun you…this is the fate of the living”

 

“A friendship is an illusion that makes you happy and eventually falls apart, in the long run Neku, all you’ll have is memories of them. Friends are memories…distractions…nothing more”

 

Now, not even being in Udagawa, being in front of the Tag mural could help him now…Neku was filled with so much grief, squeezing his hair tighter and tighter, making his arms tremble until they fell with him slouching as tear drops fell from his face.

 

“was it…” Neku sniffled “was it…really all for nothing?”

 

At this moment Shiki felt tears stream down her face making her sniffle. Having a strong link to her, Eri instantly teleported to Shiki and asked her what was wrong. When Shiki looked up, she saw tear drops falling down Eri’s face too.

 

“what’s wrong Shiki?” Eri said sadly

 

“Nothing, I’m okay” Shiki replied

 

“Huh? How come you’re crying Eri?” she asked

 

“I felt your sadness, that’s all” Eri replied

 

Shiki then wiped her tears away.

 

“I don’t think this is me, Eri…you remember what I said a Pact does right?” she asked

 

Getting the connection, Eri then gasped

 

“You think this is…Neku?” she said sadly

 

“yeah…it has to be. Since our Pact from the UG is really strong here, and how on top of that, you Rhyme and now Mr. H have a link to him too, it makes sense for you to be sad too” Shiki explained

 

“it really does” Eri added

 

Shiki then got off of her bed

 

“come on, we need to help him” she said sweetly

 

“You’re right” Eri said smiling a little

 

At that moment Beat and Rhyme teleported to Shiki’s house startling her.

 

“Yo Shiki, what’s up wid you? I could tell you were sad ‘n stuff…I felt it too” Beat said concerned wit his eyes watering

 

Rhyme wiped her eyes

 

“Beat, I think this is Neku’s sadness reaching out to us through our Pact with him. I didn’t feel like this until just now” she said worried

 

Beat then clasped his shoulder

 

“yeah dat makes sense yo. Wonder what’s got Phones’ feelin’ all crappy?” he said sadly

 

The other friends then looked at Shiki causing Mr. Mew to scratch its ehad confused

 

“Huh? What’re you looking at me for?” she asked

 

Rhyme then smiled

 

“well you are Neku’s first partner, you’re the one that was that first impact on his mind and soul remember?” she said happily

 

 

Shiki then blushed a little

 

“yeah, c’mon guys…I know where we need to go” she said sweetly

 

The friends then teleported out of the house and all flew around the city following Shiki to where she knew where Neku would be.

 

As they did, Joshua and Mr. H watched over them yet again.

 

“Boss, you know he needs you’re guidance right now” Mr. H said sternly “Phones always sees you as, someone who shares his values and you know how important that is to him. You know the same sadness he’s feeling right now, I know you do boss”

 

Joshua then looked at Mr. H seriously with his hands in his back pockets

 

“I know that, but Neku needs to learn that he won’t have them for forever, including us. I just wonder why he hid this from us before?” he said seriously

 

Joshua then crossed arms as he observed Neku trembling on the ground with rage and sadness as more memories of the Reapers' Game crashed into his head as flashbacks

 

“Why?” he said softly

 

Neku then screamed out his sadness as tear drops fell from his cheeks

 

“WHAT WAS IT FOR?!”

 

At that moment Shiki and friends heard his voice echo as they headed to Udagawa. As he saw this, Joshua sighed knowing that Neku felt helpless, desperately wanting to deny the fact that he’ll lose them, that all he ever learned, felt like it was about to be tossed away.

 

He then looked at Mr. H and then back to his portal

 

“heh, what’re we gonna do with him? Neku, as strong as he is, this is his Akeley’s heel. Feeling lonely, feeling despair again is the one thing that will break him. It makes sense for Clarissa to have used this against him” he said thoughtfully

 

“I guess I’ll go too. See you in a bit Mr. H” Joshua said waving goodbye

 

“alright, I’ll continue to monitor Phones from here” he said waving goodbye as well

 

Joshua then leaped into the portal seeing that Neku’s friends had found him causing him to teleport next to his friends to join them in trying to help Neku.

 

They all saw the redheaded teen standing with their back facing them, still wanting to convince them that he’s fine he was a little hesitant at talking to them, making his tears instantly disappear from his face with his mind.

 

“Neku….what’s wrong? Why are you so sad?” Shiki said worried

 

“guys…how come you’re all here?” he said weakly

 

“huh? What do mean? we all felt really sad and knew that none of us felt this sadness before so--

 

 

Shiki was then cut off by Joshua

 

“so we connected it to you Neku” Joshua said crossing his arms

 

“me? Sad? Heh, guys I’m fine really” Neku said with his back still facing them

 

He then turned to them and smiled

 

“I…I was just missing my parents that’s all” he added

 

“are you sure that’s really all it was?” Shiki asked

 

“yeah, I’m sure” he said sweetly

 

“I miss my parents too but…I didn’t feel this heaviness like I felt just now” Eri said concerned

 

“Yo man wad up widchu? You had us really worried man” Beat said clasping his shoulder

 

Neku then extended his left hand outward with his right hand in his pocket

 

“Guys you don’t need to worry. I’m all better now, yeah I felt a little sad before but…it’s not a big deal” Neku said determined to be happy

 

“I think it’s great that we’ll be alive again you know?” he added

 

Joshua, knowing better than this, began to play along with Neku to trick the information out of him.

 

“really Neku? Cause I thought you wanted to stay dead right? That you can’t stand the idea of losing what’s important to you?” he said crossing his arms

 

“Well yeah I like being immortal, I like being in the afterlife. There’s nothing wrong with that is there? You said that this is our home now” Neku added picking up on what Joshua was doing

 

“You know that’s not what I meant Neku, you’re smarter than that” Joshua said sternly

 

Shiki and the other s then looked confused

 

“Joshua what’re talking about? Quit acting like Neku’s hiding something! You know he’d never hurt us!” Shiki said angrily

 

Joshua then chuckled and walked a little closer to Neku with his hands in his front pockets

 

“that’s true, Neku would never hurt the people that are so precious to him. And yet we all felt a sudden heaviness, a deep sense of sadness. Also since this sadness was not triggered on our own, and with it roughly happening at the same time, this means that we all reacted to a Pact, did we not?

 

“Damn it! Stop it Josh! I want them to be happy, to want to go back to the living world and enjoy their lives! I don’t want them to know how I feel about this! Don’t you get that?!” Neku thought feeling nervous

 

“yeah we did all get sad at the same time, but Neku just said that it was cause missed his parents that’s all” Rhyme added

 

Joshua then pulled back his hair and lets out his creepy laugh at Neku

 

“of course he misses his parents, it’s common for the energies of teenagers and children to miss their family, but do you really think that such a powerful amount of grief would be linked to one thing?” he said slyly

 

Neku, feeling even more nervous started to become defensive

 

“Rrrgh! Cut the crap Joshua! I told you I was sad about my parents that’s all, why are you acting like this is some interrogation?!” Neku roared shaking his fist

 

“yeah!” Beat shouted “Quit messin’ wid Phones yo! It ain’t right!”

 

“You’ll lose them Neku” Joshua said telepathically

 

“Shut up” Neku said mentally

 

“Neku if there’s really something else bothering you, you can tell us. You know that, don’t you?” Shiki said sadly

 

Neku then clasped his shoulder while turning his back to everyone

 

“I…I do Shiki it’s just--

 

“Just what Neku? Is there something else you need to say?” Joshua said slyly

 

“is there something you want them to know?” he added pestering him

 

“what’s wrong? Why don’t you tell them?” he said smiling

 

He then began firing one question after the other making Neku feel even more like he’s being interrogated

 

“is there something you wish to say? Or are you to nervous to say it? Is there some other reason? Why won’t you talk Neku? Are you really that unsure? We’re all waiting. We just want to know that's all. what’s wrong? Why do you seem angry Neku? I see your hands balled up into fists, oh and they’re trembling. Why with this sudden change? Why do you seem more and more tense? Why don’t you answer us? Are you afraid? That’s it isn’t it? deep down inside you’re weak. Don’t want to defend yourself? What’s the matter? CAT got your--

 

“SHUT THE HELL UUUUUUUP!” Neku screamed making his friends look at him shocked

 

“Just….just shut up” he said quieter

 

“Neku?” Shiki said weakly

 

“I…I’m fine Shiki I--

 

“No you’re not!” Shiki roared

 

“it’s okay Neku! Whatever your bottling up, it’s hurting you! Please! Don’t hold this in anymore!” she screamed at him

 

“I don’t get it yo!” Beat added “One minute you’re all happy ‘n alla dat and now you’s like this!”

 

“Just tell us!” Eri pleaded

 

“Please Neku, we want to help!” Rhyme said sadly

 

Neku then hid his hands in his pockets and hid his face in his collar

 

“I…I don’t want to lose everything…not again” he said weakly

 

“again?” Shiki said “You mean--

 

“yeah, when I was the Demon Lord” Neku said finishing her sentence

 

“I lost everything the moment that happened” he said calmly “from nearly killing you guys, to harming Mr. Hanekoma…the man that was always there…and I could’ve killed him. Everything…was my fault”

 

“What? Nothing was your fault Neku! It was the demons, they were the ones that started all of this!” Eri said sharply

 

“Yeah, but if I could’ve handled it on my own…then none of you would’ve had to die. All of you got your lives cut short, because of me” he said sadly

 

“None of you will ever know how much that hurts, to know that I got all my friends killed. Heh…I…I always end up losing people…like how I lost so many friends in the past, and now I lost them again. I actually slipped back, I went back to who I use to be thanks to Clarissa. even if you guys got me back, what’s the point if we’re destined to lose each other?”

 

“Neku…how can you say that?” Rhyme said sadly

 

“My visions” he answered

 

“All of them, no matter what we did, all of them came true. Anthony got what he wanted…in the end of all of this…I broke apart, I Faded…I was killed. We can only control so much of our lives cause the rest of it, our futures are filled with uncertainty”

 

“Yo man I ain’t followin’ this. Just say what’s wrong man” Beat said sadly

 

“We fought to come back to life, to live the rest of our lives not knowing what would happen later on…and what happened? We died again…don’t you get it? No matter what we do…even with our Pact from the Reapers’ Game…everything will end. We’ll all, get older, we’ll grow up going our separate ways and die” Neku said sadly

 

“Abandonment is apart of your world” rang in his head again

 

“Neku...what are you trying to say?” Shiki said sadly

 

Neku then turned towards them with his head still hidden in his collar

 

“I...I'm saying that I...I don't want to go back. I don't want to be alive, I want to be here, that way we…we’ll be together and--

 

at that moment one of Neku's friends became infuriated by that remark

 

“RAAAAAH!”

 

 

“Beat what’re you--

 

 

Before she could finish her sentence Rhyme saw her brother charge up to Neku and grab his funnel collar and punched him in the face

 

“How could you ever say that yo?! What ‘bout ya folks huh?!” Beat roared

 

Neku just looked at Beat in shock

 

“You’re the one that always mentions how you’re glad you met us yo, that you have real friends now, people that ain’t gonna abandon you…an’ yet do wanna do the same crap to ya parents?! That’s low Phones!” he shouted at his little brother

 

Neku then got up to his feet

 

“Beat they’d see me again I wouldn’t be abandoning them!” Neku said urgently

 

“An’ how ‘bout now? Now that their only kid’s dead yo?! They got no one else, an’ you’re just gonna stay here?! My parent’s drive me crazy yo! To the point I can’t stand them, but at leas’ I know that they need me yo! You know who taught me that? YOU! So how can you leave them now that we got a chance to back yo?!” Beat snarled

 

Rhyme then ran up to Beat

 

“Beat that’s enough!” she shouted “Give him some space”

 

She and Beat then went back to Neku’s other friends

 

“You of all people, know what it’s like to lose someone Neku…Beat’s right. How can you just leave them?” Eri said sadly

 

Neku then clasped hi right shoulder

 

“Cause…it’ll only be for a little while, it’ll hurt them. I know it will, but then we’ll be a family again here, in the afterlife…we’ll be a family forever. I…I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to be alive” he said weakly

 

“But…Neku, how could you do that? You’d let them suffer all those years of being alive without their kid? How could you just--

 

“Shut up” Neku snarled

 

Eri and all his other friends then looked at him in shock

 

“Neku!” Shiki yelled

 

“How could you know how I feel Eri? How could you even scratch the surface? Even though I told you everything about me…you still wouldn’t get it” he said darkly

 

“What’re you saying Neku?! How can you act like we’re suddenly not friends and--

 

“You’ve never been abandoned!” he screamed shaking his fist “DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW MUCH THAT HURTS SOMEONE?! EVEN IF WE ARE FRIENDS, YOU’LL NEVER KNOW HOW MUCH THAT CHANGES SOMEONE!”

 

He then hid his face again and hid his hands in his pockets

 

“You’re the ‘pretty girl’ the girl everyone gets jealous of. Having tons of friends, always being with you, always getting along with you, so how do you know what it's like to have those same people make you get your trust broken?!being alone with no one to trust! feeling like everyone will use you! That even when their nice, their kindness is FAKE! how do I feel?” he said weakly

 

Eri then hanged her head

 

“Cause I lost someone too” she said sadly

 

Neku then looked up at her in shock

 

“I lost Shiki remember? When she died…I honestly thought it was cause of me, it was my fault. …It was almost like I killed her and that, knowing that I actually hurt her, it made me feel like I abandoned her. So you’re right Neku…I never was backstabbed by one of my friends, cause I was that backstabber without ever realizing it and at that moment, I felt alone. That my best friend, the one who knows me better than anyone else, was dead cause of me. I know it hurts to lose someone important to you, that’s why after Shiki’s death, I didn’t want to design anything anymore. It wouldn’t feel right…not without her” Eri said sadly

 

Shiki then walked closer to Neku

 

“even if we go back, nothing will change Neku. We’ll all stick together, and be friends. I know we will. Even if we get older, we have a link that is impossible to have in the RG remember? Our Pact. We all carry a link to each other’s energy and our minds, that’s something no one in the living world will ever have, and will never understand” she said sweetly

 

She then got closer to Neku held his left hand gently wrapping her fingers around his.

 

“I know what this feels like Neku…not wanting to be alive again…you remember what I said don't you?” she said sincerely

 

Neku then hanged his head

 

“yeah…I….I know what that feels like too” he said filled with hesitation

 

“I…I’m scared….scared of getting a second chance” he said weakly

 

Neku’s other friends (aside from Joshua who nodded his head in approval) all looked at him filled with sadness, seeing now why he pretended to be happy

 

“Phones…I…I didn’t know man, I’m so sorry. Here I thought you was bein’ a jerk to ya parents ‘n stuff yo” Beat said sadly

 

A tear then drifted down Beat’s face

 

“I didn’t mean to hit you Phones….Neku Please….forgive me man, I didn’t know”

 

“it’s okay Beat…I didn’t want you to know…any of you” Neku replied

 

“But why Neku? Why would you do this?” Rhyme said sadly

 

The other friends then glided closer to him (though not too close still giving him some space, making Shiki the closest to him)

 

“Cause…I wanted you guys to be happy, to enjoy the fact that you’ll be with your families again. I just…didn’t want to ruin it for you guys” he said sadly

 

Rhyme then smiled at his kindness

 

“We’d only be truly happy, if you were too. We don’t want to be blissfully unaware of something hurting you Neku, cause then we feel like awful friends. You’re always there for us, so let us be there for you too” Rhyme said sweetly

 

“You…really mean that?” he said in disbelief

 

“We all do yo” Beat said smiling

 

He then looked up seeing all of his friends smiling at him, even Joshua

 

Neku then looked back at Shiki and smiled

 

“I promise Neku, we’ll be alright” she said sweetly

 

“yeah” Neku said bashfully

 

They then looked at the others seeing them walk up to him all happy that he’s okay. Shiki then lets go of his hand and Mr. Mew leaped onto him and hugged him, causing everyone to laugh.

 

“thanks guys…I don’t know what to say” he said scratching his head

 

“Just promise that when something hurts, you’ll let us know if you can’t handle it on your own okay?” Eri said smiling

 

Neku then looked at her and smiled

 

“I promise” he said sweetly

 

Neku and friends then all walked out of Udagawa with Joshua teleporting back to Mr. H.

 

“it seems he’s finally accepted that he’s going back” Joshua said to Mr. H

 

“Yeah, but did you really have to push Phones that hard? Poor kid just snapped and got angry at everyone” Mr. H said scratching his neck

 

“I know, but in the end, he got out all those feelings. I think in the long run that was a good thing to do. He’s such a considerate person that he placed such a burden on himself, wanting his friends to be happy” Joshua said smiling

 

“True, but now he knows that it’s okay to be scared, cause he’ll still have them” Mr. H replied

 

“I think there’s one last thing he really needs to face, he needs to accept that he won’t always have them, but that doesn’t mean that he’s been abandoned. He can still have his friends, even if they leave him” Joshua said with a little smile


	43. Facing the Uknown

After feeling some reassurance from his friends, Neku and everyone else walked out of Udagawa with him. In all honesty they were very worried about Neku and wanted to make sure he was okay. Although they all supported him, Neku still couldn’t help but feel doubt. They say that they’ll all be there for him, but life makes many things change.

 

As the friends all walked together, Neku stopped walking, feeling a little sad over the way he yelled at Eri and the others, causing him to hide his face in his collar and hands in his pockets, hiding behind his bangs. His friends then stopped and looked at their sad friend.

 

“Neku? Hey what’s wrong?” Shiki said sadly with Mr. Mew on her shoulder looking down

 

“N-Nothing it’s just…

 

He was then cut off by Eri

 

“Neku if you don’t want to say anything it’s okay” she said sweetly

 

“thanks but…there’s just something I gotta say” he said quietly

 

“Hey, that’s aight yo, so jus’ spill it” Beat said smiling trying to encourage Neku

 

Rhyme then smiled too

 

“Alright…I’ll tell you” Neku answered

 

“It’s just…for so long now, now that we’re all friends again, now that I’m finally safe from Demons trying to kill me…I just can’t help but think about the future, what would happen if we were alive again. But…I know you guys said you’ll always be there for me it’s just…you can’t. everyone has to live their own lives, so that means you’ll all just go away and leave me” Neku said sadly

 

Shiki then hanged her head

 

“I know it’s hard Neku, being alive again. I didn't want to be alive either. If it wasn't for you and Eri, I would've tried to stay in the UG, living a lie. But just don’t worry about it. We can go back at any time, whenever you’re ready. So please don’t let this hurt you Neku. I don’t want to see you so sad” Shiki said sincerely

 

“thanks Shiki, but it’s not just that” Neku added

 

She then looked up at him

 

“huh? Then what else is it?” she asked

 

“I just…feel like crap, for how I treated you guys earlier. I didn't mean to just take out my anger on all of you. you were just trying to help, then how do I repay all of you? by treating you like dirt, yelling at all of you. I didn’t mean to, I was just nervous I…I was…scared, and…maybe I still am but--

 

At that moment Neku felt something tug his shorts causing him to look up in shock (making him pull his hands out of his pockets) to see Mr. Mew looking at him sort of “pointing” with his stubby paw at Neku’s friends, seeing them all smile at him. As he looked at them, the “piggy” ran back to Shiki and leaped onto her shoulders.

 

“I know how hard it is, to face the world, knowing that there are things beyond our control but, you were able to face it before, so I know you can do it again” Shiki said sweetly

 

“You’ve helped me more than you’ll ever know Neku. Part of being a friend is trusting them, and I trust you” she added smiling

 

Neku then looked at her in shock that she believes so strongly in him, that she really does mean it when she says she trusts him.

 

“don't worry about it Neku, it'll work out” Rhyme said happily

 

“don'tchu keep thinkin' about this yo, it ain't good man” Beat said smiling at him

 

Neku then couldn’t help but smile back but then clasp his shoulder

 

“You all…really mean it? I mean, what if we get older and we can’t see each other anymore? Doesn’t that….make you a little unsure?” Neku said weakly

 

Eri then walked up to him

 

“Of course it does Neku. We’re all scared of going back” she said sweetly

 

“really?” Neku said a little surprised

 

“heh, yup. I know how you don’t want to lose us, but just because you don’t see us or hangout with us doesn’t mean we don’t care anymore. We'd never give up on you Neku" Eri said sweetly

 

"We won’t leave...ever. a real friend still cares even if they’re separated” she said happily

 

Neku then hid his face again and hid his hands in his pockets

 

“Is it really that simple? Will we really still care, even if we’re separated? How can you be so sure? I just…can’t lose this again…I don’t know if I can take that again, so I--

 

At that moment Neku felt someone hug him, feeling that person wrap their arms around him, causing him to do the same to that person.

 

“We’ll never abandon you, or hurt you, ever. It’ll be okay Neku, that’s a promise” Shiki said sweetly

 

“Thanks…Shiki” Neku said weakly

 

She then lets go of him and smiled at Neku

 

“Don’t mention it, you sure you’re okay?” Shiki asked

 

Neku then smiled a little

 

“yeah, I am” he said reassuringly

 

Neku then hid his face and hands again

 

“Sorry” he said sadly

 

Neku’s other friends then walked to him

 

“Sorry for what?” Rhyme asked

 

“For when I pretended to be happy” he answered

 

“It’s okay Neku, you were just looking at the bigger picture, wanting what’s best for us” Rhyme said reassuringly

 

“Still…I feel awful about that. I feel like...I was messing with you guys, like I was lying…and I hate that” Neku said sadly

 

Beat then looked at Neku and smiled

 

“Phones, it’s aight man. It's gonna take more then that to make us not like you yo. I guess in a way it’s my fault yo” Beat said trying to cheer him up

 

“Your fault? How?” Neku asked

 

“Cause I did the same thing for Rhyme yo. You remember whatchu said in the RG ‘bout that? You said dat I was there for her, that I showed you, dat lyin’ can be used for somethin’ good yo. That I was lookin’ at the bigger picture” he answered

 

“Still, I hate that I lied to you, to all of you…I…I just wanted to be happy too but, I couldn’t. …Sorry” Neku said still hiding his face

 

Shiki then chuckled

 

“Neku, it’s okay” she said empathetically

 

Neku then looked up seeing that his friends were still happy, that they wanted him to be happy too.

 

“You just did what you thought was right, you were putting us first. None of us like that you did that cause, we want you to be YOU Neku and the Neku I know, isn‘t a liar” Shiki said with Mr. Mew nodding in agreement

 

Neku then scratched his head feeling a little shy

 

“thanks…it’s nice to know that’s not being held against me” he said bashfully

 

He then looked back at them and smiled

 

“Don’ mention it yo. We gonna go relax now unless you wanna hang out some more Phones” Beat said happily

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“thanks Beat, I feel like I just need time to myself again…and no, don’t worry, this time it’s just…to think you know? I need some relaxation too” Neku said with his left hand on his waist

 

His friends then added that they were glad that he’s feeling better and decided to go back to their houses too. But before that Beat then walked up to Neku and gave him the usual noogie, making Neku laugh.

 

After that the friends then all waved good bye and flew back to their houses. As Neku watched then leave he just couldn’t help but sigh with relief

 

“they always know what to say, when I don't feel right” he thought

 

He then leaped into the air and flew back to his house too, and glided to his room where he laid on his bed again, thinking about what he should do.

 

“I’m glad they weren’t mad at me…no matter what I do, no matter how badly I screw up, they don’t care about that. They don’t let that stop them from just being there. I trust them…if they say that no matter what life tosses at us, we’ll still be friends then…I guess I have nothing to worry about” Neku thought

 

“I have my Pact” he thought again “I have my existence linked to them, and they’re linked to me too. I know they’ll be there for me but…I have to be careful about this. The moment we all go back, we won’t come back here until we’re meant to die”

 

Neku then sighed

 

“I…I need to be alone for a while…just to think” he muttered

 

After thinking it over, Neku decided to leave his house and walk around the HP Shibuya to clear his head and then teleported to the Composer district. Once he appeared there, he then opened his eyes seeing where he was

 

“Just a little further…I need to get away” he thought

 

Neku then closed his eyes and then placed his hands on his head and teleported to another district of the Higher Plane. He then opened his eyes again and saw that he was in a familiar place.

 

“Huh? The Blank Void?…I guess this’ll do” Neku thought

 

He then sat down and closed his eyes

 

“Meditation opens up the mind, so if I do that, then this should help me feel more accepting to going back” Neku muttered

 

As he tried to relax, Mr. H and Joshua watched over him through their portal

 

“Do you think it’s a good idea to just leave him there Boss? You know how he gets when he feels unsure of himself” Mr. H said sternly

 

Joshua then placed his left hand over his chin with his right hand over his pocket

 

“That is a good point Mr. H, especially since we also know how he gets frustrated when he feels that way. But at the same time, this is a good way for him to also except that people will never be there for him every single time he needs his friends. Sometimes, he’ll have to handle problems on his own” Joshua pointed

 

Mr. H then scratched his head and sighed

 

“yeah that’s a good point. It helps though that his friends reassured him, that even if life brings changes, that they’ll still be friends. I can sense that helped Neku feel more confident. After all, he trusts them so we know how much that same trust means to him too” Mr. H added

 

Agreeing to keep an eye on him, the two friends then went back to monitoring Neku. As they did, Neku opened his eyes to enter his mind and when he did, he was shocked to see it wasn’t where he usually was.

 

“Huh? This place…this is where I escaped from Clarissa, thanks to Shiki” Neku thought

 

He was within the grayish void within his mind, his subconscious yet again. Neku then looked to his left and right and noticed how he really was surrounded by nothing but grayness. He looked down to then see how the gray void faded to black. The moment he did, he heard voices.

 

(although unaware of it, the voices were his concerns. What his deepest thoughts were)

 

“I don’t want to be alone again” the voice said

 

The moment Neku heard it, he gasped

 

“that’s…me?” Neku said shocked

 

“Don’t leave me…please…it’ll hurt. So…just please…don’t leave me” Neku’s worries said again

 

“I trust them but…what they said to me, is them NOW at 15 years old. Will they care if they get older?” Neku’s thoughts said again

 

Neku then squeezed his hair as he became frustrated as the voices came more frequently

 

“they’ll leave me, they’ll hurt me”

 

“I don’t want them too”

 

“Don’t think like this”

 

“It’s unavoidable, in the end…I’ll be alone”

 

“I don’t want to be alone”

 

“But they’ll leave, and I will be”

 

“Stop” Neku said frustrated

 

“I’ll be alone”

 

“No! I know they won’t forget about me!” Neku shouted

 

“They will forget…they always do”

 

Neku then squeezed his hair even tighter as all he heard was that painful sentence repeating itself: “I’ll be alone”

 

“I’ll be alone, I’ll be alone, I’ll be alone”

 

Neku then gritted his teeth tighter and screamed

 

“SHUT UUUUP!”

 

He then opened his eyes and saw himself back in the Blank Void panting out of breath from the pain he felt in his head

 

“I’m not gonna lose them” he said out loud

 

Neku then stood up to suddenly feel another jolt in his head

 

“Nnnnnnngh!” he screeched

 

“This…presence it Nnngh! It feels…a lot like them” He said in pain

 

At that moment Neku’s other friends felt that same pain too. Filled with worry, Shiki went to Neku’s room

 

“Neku what’s--

 

As she phased through his bedroom door, she saw that Neku wasn’t there.

 

“But if he’s not here then….okay, I’ll see if I can sense him here” Shiki muttered

 

Shiki then closed her eyes and focused her thoughts on the HP Shibuya and tracked down Udagawa, but saw that he wasn’t there either.

 

“He’s not there? But then where else could he be? And what was that presence just now? I gotta make sure Neku’s not in trouble!” she thought

 

She then teleported to Eri (who was at 104) and told her what happened and then went to Beat and Rhyme’s house

 

“Nnngh! I feel it too yo! We gotta go find him! This ain’t feelin’ right! Somethin’ could be hurtin’ him” Beat said urgently

 

Agreeing to track his energy, (unaware of where he is due to how the Blank Void is too far away to sense Neku from the HP Shibuya) Shiki and friends all flew around the Higher Plane trying to find Neku. As they did this, Neku heard a distorted voice call out to him.

 

It had a low pitch and sounded scratchy with multiple people speaking.

 

“You seem frightened…that’s good, you should be” the voice said

 

“Nnngh! Sh-Shut up! I'm not scared of anybody! Nnngh! Who are you?!” Neku shouted

 

The source of the voice then revealed itself, the moment it did, Mr. H and Joshua looked at each other concerned

 

“You know what this means, don’t you Boss?” Mr. H said sternly

 

“of course. Neku’s concern about growing up, and losing what matters to him, has now manifested into the being he never wanted to see up close, the person he was glad was gone” Joshua said crossing his arms

 

The menacing being then began to glide over to Neku, making his headache worsen to the point his legs began to tremble as he felt himself fall to his knees getting crushed.

 

“Nnnnnnnngh! B-Back off! You…Nnngh! You’re presence…you’re...n-not a demon but--

 

As much as hurt, Neku then forced his left eye open to see the being in front of him, the moment he saw it, the person made his presence lower. This then caused Neku to no longer whimper in pain and stand up normally.

 

“Death” Neku said weakly

 

The Angel of Death then flew to Neku extending out his scythe. Seeing him get closer, filled Neku with anxiety. He was about to dash away from the attack and try to attack Death from a safer distance, but noticed his legs were stuck.

 

“What?! I can’t move…it’s all over for me. How is he even here? Did…did I do this?” Neku thought nervously

 

As Death drew closer he then swiped at Neku making him shield his face

 

“No!” Neku thought

 

Assuming the worse, Neku had closed his eyes thinking that he was about to be killed…but noticed nothing happened. At that moment the scythe stopped, being inches away from Neku’s face.

 

“Huh? How come he didn’t kill me?” Neku thought

 

He then lowered his arms and opened his eyes to see the side of the blade facing him, seeing his reflection within the blade.

 

“Neku Sakuraba. Blood type A, son of Masato Sakuraba and Kiyomi Sakuraba. Born March 15th 1995” The Death God said analyzing Neku

 

“my…my parents…my blood type from when I was alive…all of it. You could see that much?” Neku said startled

 

But Death didn’t answer, instead he glided closer to Neku being face to face with him, making him look at the disturbed Angel in shock, unsure of what Death wanted to do to him. The Death Angel then placed his long, claw like fingers on Neku’s funnel collar and slid it down exposing Neku’s neck.

 

After this, he then placed his sharp fingers on Neku’s right cheek, tracing its shape down to his jaw, and then went to Neku’s left side, making him cringe as he felt the claw like fingers scratch him.

 

“I see….you have the same jaw and eyes as Masato, and his same physic when he was your age, but you have Kiyomi’s hair and pale skin. Such a shame a young boy had to die so soon” Death said darkly

 

“I am what you deny Neku. As much as you wish it wasn’t true…you will be all alone, with no one to care for you but your parents. Then once it’s their time…you will have no one. No one needs you. No one…cares about you. No one loves you” he added

 

“Shut up!” Neku shouted “I don’t buy any of that crap! I know they’re not gonna leave me! Even if I live again and face the world, I’ll still have them! You don’t know what my friends are like!”

 

Death then snapped his bony fingers unfreezing Neku. Seeing this as a way to destroy the illusion, Neku charged up the instant kill shot in his right hand and leaped towards Death, causing him to hold out his left hand and send a shock wave to Neku’s chest, making him smash against the floor, landing on his back.

 

“Nnnnnnnngh!” Neku shrieked

 

“that…that almost…tore my chest open” he whispered as he clenched it with his left hand feeling it sting

 

"this pain you feel, is what you would've felt in Udagawa, if you had survived to feel being shot in the chest. As a spirit, you can survive wounds that would kill a human, as you know. It's your agony that shall kill you. does it hurt little Fledgling?" Death said darkly

 

As much as he struggled to stand up, Neku then got to his feet, squeezing his left arm for support.

 

“You deny the fact that they’ll leave you, causing that fear to become an illusion…that is what I am, little spirit” The Death Angel explained

 

“You…Nnngh! You…don’t know them, my Pact is gonna keep us together. I know it’ll be okay” Neku said defiantly

 

Death then had red energy glow within his eyes and flew to Neku, as much as he wanted to fight back, he felt incredibly drained from the shock wave attack from earlier.

 

“I…gotta heal” Neku thought

 

At that moment, Death teleported behind Neku and slashed his back tearing it open the same way Joshua had, making him scream in pain as he was launched forward before slamming into the ground laying face first with his back leaking energy.

 

The moment this happened, his friends (with the exception of Joshua and Mr. H with their higher pain tolerance) all screamed in pain

 

“Nnnngh! Wha…what da hell was that?!” Beat shouted

 

“I don’t know but…we gotta head to another district, we searched all over Shibuya” Shiki answered.

 

“We…Nnngh! We should check the Enlighten district, just to be safe!” Eri said worried

 

“yeah! We gotta hurry!” Rhyme added

 

With that remark the other friends then all teleported to the Enlighten district, desperate to find Neku.

As they searched for him, Neku laid on the floor with his eyes halfway open and coughed up four orbs

 

"that attack...it...was even stronger than Joshua's energy scythe. that one attack was enough to do...this? I...I can't...fight back...I--

as he tried to stay awake, Neku felt his eyes become heavier making his vision blur, while they lost focus, all he could see was Death approaching him, knowing that he was about to be killed.

"I...I can't. guys, it...Nnnnngh! it...looks like...I won't be...g-going back with...you...after all. I...I'm so...sorry" he whispered

 

Neku then felt his eyes close hearing one chilling little sentence from Death before he passed out

 

"all things come to an end little boy, and now you'll lose your life"

 

hearing such a thing, though it came out as a whisper, Neku than instantly opened his eyes, pushing himself with his mind

 

Neku's body, especially his arms, trembled in pain as he tried to get up. As he did he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

 

“Nnngh! my...Soul Code? it...stings...I guess Death reached it...af...ter all. I…I’m not…gonna make it. Not like this” he said weakly

 

As tired as he felt, Neku tried to generate energy to heal himself as he got up, causing a darkblue aura to glow around him, making him feel less tired.

 

When he finally got up, Death then sent a powerful blast of wind sending Neku to the forest Safe Zone, making him smash his back against a tree trunk, which made him whimper in pain.

 

The moment he opened his eyes, the illusion stood in front of him and squeezed Neku’s neck, making him scream as Death burned it exposing his energy. Death then stopped listening to Neku pant out of breath. The death god then fixed Neku‘s collar making it by his mouth again.

 

Seeing this as a way to enlighten Neku, he then placed the side of his Scythe in front of Neku letting him see the reflection of another person in it.

 

“Who do you see?” Death asked

 

Exhausted, Neku’s eyes were half open and as hard as it was for him to see, he was able to make out who the person was from the chest up.

 

“Huh? That…girl…she…Nnngh…she looks like Shiki but, a lot older. It’s like Shiki’s in her twenties” Neku said weakly

 

The adult Shiki no longer wore the same glasses she did as a teen and wore more sleek, small, retangular glasses like Konishi, the 3rd Game Master. Her brown hair was nearly the same length as her usual look, but she grew out her bangs parting it to her left side instead of it being in her face. She wore a green shirt beneath a dark blue business suit that was a long sleeve jacket.

 

Death then moved his scythe out of the way and threw Neku out of the Safe Zone. As Neku flew away from Death he felt himself slow down.

 

At that moment, he saw Death float above him and blast a ball of grayish white energy to his chest, creating the same amount of pain as being shot in the chest, making Neku scream again as he fell downward. Death then teleported behind Neku and smashed him onto the ground face first again.

 

By now he was in so much agony, that Neku wheezed in pain as he laid on the floor.

 

“Nnngh! Mr. …Mr. H…Joshua…any…Nnngh…any…one…I…

 

Neku then coughed up orbs as he wheezed.

 

“My vision…it’s getting…blurry” Neku thought “Does anyone know I’m here? Can anyone hear my thoughts? Shiki, Beat, Joshua…everyone, where are you?”

 

Overwhelmed with pain, Neku once again tried to get up, but he noticed it was getting harder just to move. His legs and arms trembled as he got up from the floor, using his left hand to push himself up.

 

“Impressive” Death said as Neku rose to his feet “Most Fledglings would’ve faced Soul Obstruction by now. The moment I swung my scythe against your back…that attack usually kills them instantly. I see....it's your mind, your Imagination is helping you hang on.”

 

Neku, squeezing his left arm for support, then generated energy in his left hand and he healed himself. he was able to lessen how big the hole in his back was to a little cut and simultaneously fixed the back of his shirt, making him almost completely healed and at his normal state of health.

 

Seeing this made the Death Angel chuckle and snap his fingers, making Adult Shiki appear in front of him. He also saw Rhyme as an adult wearing a black skirt and long sleeve shirt being the same pinkish orange color of her old shirt.

 

Neku also saw Rhyme grew out her hair parting it to the left. He then saw Eri wearing the same outfit as Shiki but with her usual Pinkish red shirt underneath. All three of the girls wore high heals making them all look very elegant.

 

“Shiki? Eri? Rhyme? Is that…really you?” Neku asked as he walked to them

 

But they were silent. He then saw Beat appear next to Rhyme. He wore a dark gray hoodie with a black hat with a skull pin on it and baggy khaki pants with black and white shoes. They were white with the black part being the red design of his old shoes

 

“Beat? Hey…how come you look so different?” Neku asked

 

He then walked a little closer standing in front of the illusions, the moment he did, he saw how serious they all looked.

 

“Guys? Guys it’s me, Neku!” he shouted

 

Still they were silent causing Neku to snarl

 

“Rrrgh! Damn it say something!” Neku shouted

 

“I don’t have time for you” Rhyme said

 

“What?” Neku said shocked

 

“I need to hurry to my next appointment” she answered

 

“Appointment? Rhyme, what are you--

 

“I’m a psychologist Neku. I can’t be with you anymore” Rhyme said darkly

 

She then walked away from Neku, making him look at her filled with heartache.

 

"No...Rhyme why? Look...I know we didn't really get to know each other in the Reapers' Game, like I did with everyone else but, I got to know you in the RG. We...we became friends that way." Neku said outloud wishing she would reply

 

Neku then hanged his head as his eyes burned and then looked towards adult Beat

 

“What about you?” Neku said looking at Beat

 

“Remember how I said I don’t have dreams?” Beat said sternly

 

Shocked by how he spoke Neku looked at him in shock

 

“Beat? Beat you don’t even sound the same you--

 

“It’s Bito now. I go by my last name. I got older and realized that I’m really good at skateboarding, so I made a career out of it” Bito explained

 

“so then…what does that…

 

Neku then sees Beat turn away from him

 

“Hey! Beat! Beat what are you--

 

Before Neku could even finish speaking, Beat had turned his back on him and walked away.

 

“No…don’t, don’t do this. I thought we were brothers!” Neku shouted

 

Shiki and Eri then looked at Neku with sadness and held something out to him, causing Neku to look at them as his eyes watered.

 

“that’s…your Piggy but…you made clothes out of him?” Neku said weakly

 

“Exactly, it’s really a big hit now. We also have Mr. Mew plush toys and hats” Eri said dryly

 

At that moment Adult Shiki grabbed her cell phone and answered a phone call

 

“So we need to do another design? And you need it due…alright, consider it done. We’ll have the design in a matter of days” Shiki answered talking to her boss

 

Although not always common, Shiki and Eri have high ranked jobs in the fashion industry, enabling them to have exclusive access to their boss incase she needs them.

 

“Shiki? Shiki!” Neku shouted

 

She then turned away from him and walked away, along with Eri doing the same.

 

“No…not you too…don’t--

 

As they walked away Neku then ran towards them causing him to squeeze Shiki’s right hand making her stand in place.

 

“You said you’d never abandon me!” Neku shouted

 

She then moved her hand away from him and sighed.

 

“I have more important things to do Neku. I don’t have time for you anymore” she said darkly

 

Hearing such an awful thing from his first real friend…his first partner, it stung Neku to the point he was speechless just looking at her and Eri as they walked away. He then saw all of them, Shiki, Beat, Eri and Rhyme all walk away.

 

He was filled with so much sadness that tears fell from his face as he saw his former friends walk further and further beyond his reach, until the vanished. Death then stood next to Neku

 

“Life is inconsistent, it always brings many changes. from friends moving away, to their death, nothing lasts forever little boy. Do you see now? They WILL leave you. No one needs you...no one cares...your existence...means nothing.” Death said darkly

 

“They won’t” Neku whimpered “They…They won’t do this”

 

Neku then squeezed his hair as he fought back tears

 

“All you’ll ever know, is abandonment. You’ll always suffer and be lonely” Death said softly

 

“Rrrrgh!” Neku snarled “They…they won’t…leave”

 

He then screamed and became his full demon form, becoming the former Demon Lord wearing his usual tuxedo again, he looked at Death filled with angry wide eyes as tears fell. Neku then lets out a snarl sounding like a wolf and pounced at Death slashing him dozens of times. He then teleported behind Death and blasted him with demon lightning sending Death flying back.

 

Neku then teleported into the air right in front of his enemy and blasted a dome of demon energy blowing up Death’s Scythe. He then went to his true demon form causing him to let out a distorted roar as he flew to Death.

 

He then slashed Death from every angle making the illusion scream before crashing to the ground.

 

Neku then teleported to the ground snapped his fingers, wearing is Mr. H resembling clothes again and held out his left hand sending a sonic boom to Death, making him go flying away.

 

Neku then teleported to Death and blasted him with energy crashing him onto the ground again. After that Neku teleported to the ground and tapped his foot letting out tremors to the beat. 

 

He then stopped and activated his Staccato energy to pour out of him, making him have purplish blue smoke around his body. And roared as he slashed the Death God dozens of times.

 

At that moment Death teleported behind Neku, making him turn around, only to get blasted with energy to the face. Death then smashed Neku onto the ground, landing on his back as he squeezed Neku’s neck burning him again, making him whimper as he powered down, losing the Staccato mist that was swirling around him.

 

“I see you chose the path of a Demon little Fledgling, a very unsafe and risky choice” Death said slyly

 

Neku then snarled

 

“That’s not all I am” Neku said darkly

 

“I’m an Angel!” he roared

 

At that moment he blasted Death back with a blast of white energy, once it dissolved, it revealed Neku in his Angel form, unaware that his friends were sensing his drastic spikes in energy.

 

They had searched the entire Enlighten district when the all felt a jolt in their heads again

 

“Nnngh! N-Neku!” Shiki whimpered

 

“what’s going on?! How come his energy keeps going up and down like this?! I’ve never felt it change this drastically” she said concerned

 

“I…I don’t know but…Nnngh! This is too much, Neku’s energy is like a roller coaster right now! If he keeps doing this then who knows what’ll happen to him!” Eri shouted

 

At that moment Joshua intervened

 

“Guys, come to the Composer district. There’s something you need to see” Joshua said telepathically

 

Neku’s friends then did as Joshua said and teleported to that distirct, the moment they did, they saw Joshua and Mr. H in front of their portal.

 

“Prissy boy! Hman! What’s goin’ on yo?!” Beat shouted as he and the others flew to them

 

Once they stood in front of the portal, Joshua held out his left hand

 

“that’s far enough” he said to them “right now, Neku is facing his fear of uncertainty. He came to this district to sort of think and meditate to try to cope with his concerns. But as he did, they took on the form of the person he’s terrified of. With his fear of demons no longer existing, someone else took their place”

 

“You mean…Death?” Shiki said as she and the others looked into the portal

 

“exactly” Joshua replied

 

“But then why don’t you go help him?! Why don’t you go save him?! Neku’s energy’s spiking up like crazy! You know he needs you!” Eri said urgently

 

Joshua then crossed his arms

 

“what he needs, is to accept that we can’t always be there for him. That we’ll be his friends, but that he will also be alone at some points in life too. But that doesn’t mean that he’s been abandoned, it means we all have our own lives to live. He already knew this in the Reapers' Game, telling that to Shiki after all, but it seems he needs a little reminder” Joshua said wisely

 

Seeing what Joshua was trying to teach Neku, Shiki, more than anyone, knew that it was important for Neku to know that and the others looked at each other, then back at that portal, understanding why Neku needed to face this on his own.

 

“Don’t worry, if this goes too far, then I’ll be there for him” Mr. H said reassuringly

 

Neku’s Angel form slashed Death dozens of times, teleported behind him and then blasted Angel fire at Death, making him scream as part of his black mist dissolved.

 

“Easy...don't tell me that's all?.” Neku said darkly

 

Death then flew at Neku and blasted energy at him making Neku fly to dodge the attack. Death then joined him and they both flew at each other slashing each other multiple times. Neku then teleported away from Death and became his Composer form and blasted Death with energy making him go flying back and then crossed his arms.

 

“Suffer” Neku imprinted

 

Death then screamed as the energy burned him even more because of the imprint, causing him to lose more of the black mist. Neku was tearing apart the illusion. The illusion of Death then teleported away from the energy and snickered.

 

“You barely comprehend what I can do” Death said darkly

 

“I’ve faced Noise, Reapers, Angels and Demons…so I know what you can do. I don’t care if you’re an Angel almost at God status, you’re still not gonna beat me!” Neku said in his fighting stance

 

He then became his Angel form again and broke the sound barrier as he flew to Death.

 

“Stop” he imprinted

 

Neku then went to a screeching halt, making him gasp as he hovered right in front of Death.

 

“Agony” Death Imprinted

 

Neku then squeezed his hair as he screamed in pain from feeling his body being crushed, causing him to tremble.

 

Taking advantage of how he’s almost at God Status, Death then unleashed more powerful and advanced imprints

 

“Burn in anguish” Death said darkly

 

Neku then screamed even louder as tears drifted down his face as Death was burning Neku’s Angel wings apart.

 

“Aaaaagh! Make it stooooop!” Neku cried

 

“Nnnnngh! I…I can’t” he whimpered

 

“I’m not gonna make it” he thought “the only other option I have is…no…I can’t use that energy again. The last time I used my God energy was on a clone of me. Just a mere CLONE! And it was losing my personality”

 

Mr. H then generated his Angel wings ready to dive into the portal to protect Neku.

 

“His wings are almost half way gone. I think he gets the idea Boss. You know what‘ll happen if the illusion burns the wings off of Neku” Mr. H said darkly

 

“I know” Joshua said sternly “But don’t go in there, not yet”

 

Mr. H then revealed his pale blue eyes and looked at Joshua sternly

 

“You’re cutting this really close Joshua” Mr. H said concerned

 

“This is too much for him! We have to save him!” Shiki yelled with Mr. Mew nodding

 

“We can’t stand here and do nothing!” Eri shouted

 

“We have to go to him! Neku can’t take much more!” Rhyme said worried

 

“You jus’ gonna stand there?! We ain’t got time to waste yo! An’ I ain’t arguin’ wid you ‘bout this again! Last time we did it almost got Neku killed!” Beat roared getting ready to punch Joshua

 

Joshua then chuckled and snapped his fingers freezing everyone in place.

 

“You need to trust him. Neku, although he feels powerless, isn’t powerless at all. He fought a Demon Lord with his own energy, for a spirit to be able to do such a thing and actually win, is unheard of. Neku is an extremely powerful spirit, I know he can do this” Joshua said to them

 

“Prove to me I’m right Neku, show me what you can do when pushed beyond your limit, with no one to turn to” Joshua thought

 

 

 

Neku screamed as he felt more massive chunks of his Angel wings being burned

 

“I don’t know where they are…I don’t know if they can even feel me. Is the Blank Void really that out of reach? I’m on my own, there’s no other option!” he thought

 

Neku then focused his energy and unleashed his lion like roar becoming his God form making the Imprints stop. Neku then placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes.

 

“Focus” he said quietly

 

Neku then created volcanoes with his mind and opened his eyes summoning lava to go bursting out of them and pointed at Death, causing the lava to fly towards him. Death then generated his scythe again and slashed through the lava and flew towards Neku.

 

He then held out his right hand towards the sky and then lowered it, aiming at death sending massive amounts of Lightning to the Angel of Death. Death dodged each blast and flew to Neku roaring

 

“Why fight for something that will mean nothing once you live? Your precious little friends will leave you, yet you still fight for them?” Death screamed

 

Neku then snapped his fingers causing dozens of clones of his Dragon form to slash Death and breathe God energy onto him making Death scream in pain as more of his body was burned away.

 

“Even if they leave me, my friends won’t abandon me. I understand now…our Pact gives us a link that no one else has. So even if we’re separated, our existence is linked together, Our existence is one. We are merged” Neku said wisely

 

Neku then held out his right hand and blasted Death with energy again making him scream in pain.

 

“Get outta my sight” Neku snarled

 

He then sent a massive blast of energy to Death blowing up a huge chunk of the Illusion apart. But doing that, focusing so much energy into one shot, came at a price.

 

“Nnnnnngh!” Neku screamed squeezing his hair “N-No! Not again! NOT NOW!”

 

Death then laughed at Neku’s agony

 

“All that power is quite a burden isn’t it little Fledgling?” he asked as Neku panted out of breath

 

Death then flew to Neku swinging out his Scythe charging up power within it, ready to kill Neku. Seeing this filled his friends with fear

 

“No! Neku!” Shiki screamed

 

They then saw his God form begin to break apart making it surge like lightning making Neku scream.

 

“all that power, wasted on a pathetic and worthless little boy” Death snarled

 

Neku then powered down to his normal form and fell to his hands and knees wheezing in pain and looked up seeing Death about to swing his scythe at him and close his eyes.

 

“I’m sorry Mr. Hanekoma…but…this is my last shot” he said weakly

 

He then opened his eyes and roared as a massive blast of dark blue energy sent Death flying back. When he got up, he saw Neku in his armored form, who roared as the energy armor broke off.

 

Neku then teleported to Death and slashed him dozens of times from all angles while breaking the sound barrier at the same time. Neku then became an orb and blasted Death away from him. He then teleported to Death again and roared as he unleashed his energy at the illusion as a darkblue Twister spinning him back to Neku.

 

He then punched Death’s skull cracking it, while simultaneously blasting another sonic boom. After that Neku then blasted his energy at Death as fire out of his left hand and again as lightning.

Neku then closed his eyes and placed his hands on his head

"energy exists all around us, I AM energy. Soul is abstract matter, the energy that exists within all forms of life. Energy is light, light is explosive, like fire and lightning....a plasma. I gotta take advantage of that" he thought

Neku then held out his hands (like when he does a Pact with multiple people) and felt energy go into him. white orbs outlined in gray all flew into Neku as he absorbed energy from the Higher Plane and opened his eyes. at that moment he shot massive blasts of his energy from his hands causing Death to scream as Neku's energy burned him. 

he then got into his fighting stance with his hands glowing

"What? that's all you've got?" Neku asked "If so, then you're good as gone"

he then dashed to Death slashing him with bursts of speed and then shot his energy as lightning at Death again. Neku then closed his eyes and placed his hands on his head again and floated into the air as a path of fire flew to Death and burned him again. Then Neku opened his eyes and stood on the ground, placed his left hand on his head and shot out his energy as boulder sized orbs at Death making the illusion scream again.

"I've got this" Neku muttered

He then snapped his fingers becoming his God form again and roared sending an orb the size of a boulder to the illusion of Death and blew it up.

 

Reaching his limit, Neku became his normal self again but was almost at his last layer with massive chunks of the energy leaking out of his skin and clothes and fell forward when he felt someone catch him and hold him steady with their hands on his shoulders.

 

“Nnngh! Mr. H” Neku whispered

 

“It’s okay Neku, I’ve got you” the angel said reassuringly

 

He then closed his eyes and generated his Angel wings wrapping them around Neku

 

“Huh? I…I feel so…warm” Neku thought

 

Mr. H then chuckled

 

“that’s cause Angel wings, right down to the feathers, have healing properties kiddo” Mr. H said smiling

 

Neku then smiled as he felt the soothing warmth of the feathers heal all his wounds, making him stand up straight.

 

“thanks, Mr. H” Neku said weakly

 

Mr. H was about to say something when people called out to Neku

 

“Neku!” they all said

 

“heh, well look who’s here” Mr. H said happily

 

He then lets go of Neku and all his friends came to him

 

“Neku! You okay?!” Shiki said worried

 

Neku then smiled at all his friends

 

“yeah, thanks to Mr. H healing me” Neku said reassuringly

 

Neku then felt a sharp jolt in his head and squeezed his hair

 

“Neku what’s happening to you?!” Shiki shouted

 

But before he could answer he lets out a fearsome roar and was forced into his God form making all his friends look at him in shock with their Angel auras protecting them. He had finally now lost all control of the God energy.

 

“Phones! What happened yo?! How come you in you’re God form ‘n stuff?!” Beat shouted

 

“Silense little Spirit” Neku snarled in a distorted voice, like four other Nekus spoke in a lower pitch

 

“Whatchu say?! what's goin' on Phones?!” Beat said concerned

 

Neku (with his form surging like lightning) charged up energy in his hand the size of a boulder making Mr. H go full blast and tackle Neku. Joshua then became his true form and also flew to Neku, but he blasted them both with God energy making them regain balance in the air.

 

“Mr. H! Joshua! What’s going on?!” Rhyme shouted

 

“It’s Neku’s God energy. Due to him pushing himself, spiking up his energy so many times that it was putting a massive strain on himself it began damaging him. Neku’s soul was damaed from spiking up and down so fast, and has become weaker” Joshua said darkly

 

“Now because of that Neku’s losing himself to the God energy…it’s killing him, starting by removing his personality” Mr. H added

 

Speechless his friends looked at Neku in shock.

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“Now that I am no longer held back by my Soul, I’ll do what the Composer of Shibuya failed to do. I shall continue his goal and cleanse the world of that rotten city. I…will destroy Shibuya. Then, what was the fate of that city shall spread across the globe, and I will cleanse the universe of humanity, that hopeless species, with fire from the heavens.” Neku said darkly

 

“Neku don’t!” Shiki screamed

 

She then ran to him and went full blast as an Angel. Neku then fired the orb at her causing her and the others to dodge the attack making the Orb explode as it hit the ground. Shiki then tackled Neku and placed her hand on his forehead

 

"We said we'd never give up on you remember? I’ll help you Neku, that’s a promise” she thought

 

Shiki then closed her eyes and focused Angel energy on her hand to let it flow into Neku’s head

 

“Control” she imprinted

 

Neku then grunted feeling a sharp jolt to his head. As Shiki backed away from him, she and the others looked at him with relief seeing the energy stabilize. Neku then got to his feet and generated wings for his God form

 

They looked like Reaper Wings but were gold with silver crystals within the wings, acting like Angel wings, storing some of his power within them

 

“N-Neku? You okay?” Shiki said nervously

 

“yeah…I made these wings to split some of the God energy inside them, instead of just storing it all inside me” he answered

 

Shiki and the others then all flew to him with Beat becoming his Angel form and gave Neku a noogie followed by Eri hugging him

 

“You’re really okay!” she said sweetly

 

“you bet. Thanks to you guys” Neku said smiling

 

She then lets go and Shiki then hugged him in her Angel form too

 

“I’m glad you’re okay Neku” she said happily

 

“Me too” he said sweetly

 

“c’mon, let’s get out of here” Shiki said letting go of him


	44. No Limits

Filled with relief Neku and his friends then all powered down to their normal states with Rhyme adding that she’s glad that Neku’s okay again and although he had them all worried, that he should focus more on just being happy.

 

It was something that made him scratch his head, he couldn’t help but feel like he’s always putting stress on his friends, and the last thing he would want is for them to hate him.

 

Feeling a little guilty, Neku couldn’t help but hide his face and hands again. Noticing this, knowing by now that that was Neku’s body language showing that he was sad, his friends wondered what was wrong.

 

“Phones? Hey, what’s up man?” Beat said sadly

 

“Yeah, is the God energy hurting you or something?” Eri said worried

 

“No, it’s not that, don’t worry” Neku said weakly

 

Shiki, knowing better than to believe that then looked at him sadly

 

“If you don’t want to say what’s bothering you, it’ okay Neku. We don’t mind, really” Shiki said empathetically

 

“thanks” Neku said sadly

 

Neku then sighed knowing that it’s better to let out what’s bothering him

 

“It’s just…I feel like I always worry you guys. I always make something…go wrong” he explained

 

“What? Neku you haven’t done anything wrong, it’s okay to feel worried” Eri added

 

“Is that how you want to spend your eternity? Worrying about me?” Neku asked

 

His friends then looked at him sadly

 

“Look man, don’t get so sad ‘n stuff. I mean it’s aight yo. There’s no reason to feel like crap man. You didn’t know what you were doin’.” Beat said reassuringly

 

“You mean it? Even if all I ever do is just put stress on you guys?” Neku said feeling guilty

 

“Neku, you don’t put stress on us. It’s normal for us to feel concern about you, that’s what friends do when their friend is in trouble. It’s not a bad thing, honest.” Rhyme added

 

Joshua then chimed in

 

“Although that is true, you also know better then to let your stress get the better of you here Neku. Since your mind is very powerful, it’s able to do dangerous things when it goes out of control, and you know that. You also know by now that when that happens, it’s important to have someone close by, incase your imagination gets out of hand” Joshua said sternly

 

“hey, don’t put the blame on him!” Shiki said sharply “it’s not like he knew this was going to happen, that his worries would become Death”

 

“Shiki, it’s okay…he’s right. I…I shouldn’t have left our district. But…I just had to get away, I wanted some time to myself, to just think and focus on what’s bothering me. I shouldn‘t have done that, I shouldn‘t have gone on my own. …Sorry” Neku added

 

Beat then looked at Neku in shock and then hanged his head

 

“Phones…you sayin’ you WANTED to be alone? I thought you bought into the whole 'trust your partner' stuff. So then how come you goin’ to be alone? I thought you didn’t want that yo. Are you really jus' gonna go back to the old Phones?! How could you jus‘ leave us man?” Beat said sadly

 

“No I…I don’t want that. I don’t want to go back. I just…I left cause I knew I could go back to you guys. I knew I wasn’t really leaving anyone. It’s like when you want space from your parents, to just do your own thing. I didn’t know it would get this bad. Sorry” Neku replied

 

Shiki then looked at him smiling and walked closer

 

“Neku, stop apologizing. It’s okay. Yes we were worried, but that’s cause We only want you to be okay, so of course we’re going to wonder what’s wrong if you’re not. It’s how you show that you want what's best for that person, that's all. So in a way, being worried is a good thing” Shiki said sweetly

 

Neku then looked up and saw all his friends smiling at him

 

“she’s right you know” Mr. H added “There’s nothing wrong with someone caring about your well being is there?”

 

Neku then chuckled and smiled

 

“Heh heh, no…there isn’t. I guess…I worry about you guys too, that’s why I felt like crap, that I was making you guys upset, but now I know better. Thanks Mr. H” Neku said happily

 

He then smiled and patted Neku on the head

 

“don’t mention it kiddo” Mr. H said happily

 

Mr. H then snapped his fingers and opened up a portal

 

“Now what do you kids say we get outta here huh?” he said scratching his neck

 

Neku and friends then smiled at each other and went inside the portal with it leading to the Composer district. Once they got out, Neku and the others, except Joshua, looked at him confused.

 

“huh? How come we didn’t end up in the Fledgling district Mr. H?” Neku asked

 

Mr. H then chuckled

 

“Well, I figured we could all use a change in scenery. You don’t mind, do ya Phones?” he said smiling

 

 

Neku then smiled at him

 

“Of course not” Neku said happily

 

“Good to know, well I’ve got some things I need to take care of so I’ll see ya later” Mr. H added

 

“alright, see you later Mr. H…and thanks” Neku said sincerely

 

“for what?” Mr. H asked

 

“For helping me feel better when I almost passed out” Neku answered

 

Mr. H then patted his head again

 

“Don’t mention it Neku. I’ll help ya any time you need it” he said happily

 

Neku and friends then saw Mr. H become a ball of light and fly to another part of the district. Joshua, who was going to the Higher Ups to report Neku’s progress in accepting his proposal, also became a ball of light and went to their district and told them what Neku’s mind created.

 

“I see. So he recreated the Angel of Death? Heh, the immense range in power he possess is truly astounding. Though a mere illusion, his thoughts are able to make them almost alive, enabling Death to hurt him, as if he was actually there” Aiden said impressed by Neku’s imagination

 

“And to think it’d be the equivalent to him fighting one of us, and that on top of that, Neku succeeded in destroying Death” Amonae added

 

“Although that is quite a feat for a mere little spirit, we cannot deny that the other energies within him played a roll in defeating the illusion. Should Neku have faced Death, or any of us for that matter, with his energy alone, he surely would have been killed. Even when facing the Demon Lord, Neku was able to wound Anthony with his energy, not kill him” Ryuga pointed out

 

“That’s a valid point. It was only due to Neku’s six-way Pact pushing his mind to the point that he created Death, that he was able to kill him. Still, there’s no denying how powerful the boy truly is” Aiden also added

 

“So how’s his state of mind Joshua? Do you believe he has accepted that he will be alive again?” The head Maestro asked

 

Joshua (currently in his true form) smiled

 

“I believe so” he replied

 

“his friends have proven to him once again, that they will be there for him and that their loyalty to him is unwavering. I suppose I’m included in that too since I protected Neku many times when he was at the verge of losing everything” Joshua added

 

“it seems that he feels much more relief that his Pact has grown stronger since entering our realm. I believe that in the long run, it’ll help him return to the RG. Even if the moment they are alive their Pact will be broken and no longer have their minds and souls merged, the experiences they've had with one another will help Neku not feel abandoned” Joshua said to them

 

“That is good to hear Joshua. Especially since he seems to need to have some peace with his friends before going back” Aiden said

 

After that Joshua was dismissed and went back to the Composer district to bring more humans to the after life. As he did this, Neku and friends rested on the meadows of the district letting the grass gently brush against their legs. As they rested, something came to Beat’s mind, it was something he wanted to tell Neku for a while now.

 

“Yo Phones, there’s something’ I wanna ask man” Beat said sitting up

 

Neku then did the same

 

“alright, what’s up?” Neku asked

 

“You ‘member when you was attacked by those Soul Stealers? When you were stuck facing them?” Beat said sadly

 

Neku then hanged his head

 

“Remember? How can I forget?” Neku said weakly

 

“I just….wanted to say sorry man. That was my fault yo” Beat said with his eyes watering

 

Neku then looked at him confused

 

“Your fault? Beat, that had nothing to do with you” he answered

 

“Yes it did man. We were all so nervous yo, we could all feel you gettin’ weaker and weaker to the point, we could barely sense you anymore man. You almost Faded. An’ we knew we could get killed goin’ up against ‘em…so we ended up arguing’ over how to help you Phones!”

 

Shiki, Eri, and Rhyme then all sat up

 

“We all had different ideas of how to help you, but then Joshua said we couldn’t help.” Shiki added sadly

 

“that’s when we all argued, telling Joshua that we had to” Eri said hanging her head a little

 

Joshua then chuckled and sat up too.

 

“They wasted time arguing with me, so in the end, we all wasted time that we could’ve used to save you. In a way, seeing you take on Death reminded us of the same thing” Joshua said with a smug smile

 

“I’m sorry yo. I didn’t mean it. I’m the one dat started that whole fight yo. I jus…couldn’t handle losin’ someone again man” Beat said with a tear going down his left cheek

 

Neku then smiled at Beat and chuckled

 

“Hey don’t worry about it man. In a way, I’m glad you guys argued, I’m glad that you were worried. It shows that…You know, I mean something to you guys…and that’s a good thing…right?” he said happily

 

Beat then looked up and smiled at Neku

 

“Right. But, you SURE you aight yo?” Beat said curious

 

“Huh? Why are you still asking about that? I’m fine really” Neku said reassuringly

 

“Well…you took on DEATH Neku! I mean that’s the equivalent to fighting the Higher Ups!” Eri said concerned

 

Neku then looked down a little and placed his left hand on his chest

 

“Yeah…that’s a good point” he said weakly

 

“at one point, when I fought that illusion I made, Death actually shot my chest with energy…he almost tore it open. It was like I was shot in the chest again but…this time I could feel it, and it feels like a cannon ball bursting through your chest” Neku said sadly

 

“I knew I had to use my mind and energy against him, after all, lightning and fire are forms of energy, light is explosive. So I knew I had to use that…I had to do something to use that against the illusion of Death, so I could survive” he said hiding his face

 

“Neku…I’m so sorry. I wish I could’ve helped” Shiki said sadly

 

“Don’t be. If you were there Shiki, it would’ve been dangerous for you too. But I’m okay now…really” Neku said trying to sound happy (though failing at it)

 

Joshua then chuckled making Neku look up at him

 

“You know, if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. You really are one lucky Sprit Neku. To have taken on an Angel on par with the Higher Ups, and not be killed is unheard of…however…you also have your other forms to help you. Tell me something Neku, do you honestly think you would’ve survived against Death without your other forms? if you fought with your energy alone?” he said with a sly little grin, while pulling back his hair

 

“Stop it Joshua!” Shiki yelled “You know what would’ve happened to Neku without his other forms! So stop teasing him about that!”

 

“He...He’s right” Neku said sadly

 

“Neku! Don’t let him get to you! You know Joshua’s sense of humor by now!” Shiki said to him

 

“it’s okay Shiki…I know that without my other forms I would’ve been gone…it was all so painful, it was to the point that when Death tore apart my back, I felt like I was about to pass out. I know...that I'm just a ghost...that I'm breakable, in fact…I would’ve been gone a long time ago if it wasn’t for them” he added

 

“hey don’tchu go there man, you ain’t weak yo! There’s stuff you did on your own too man, like in the Angels’ Game, and takin‘ on Anthony wid your energy yo. You ain’t weak Phones” Beat said smiling

 

Neku then looked up at him and smiled back

 

“thanks bro” he said sincerely

 

“any time yo” Beat said happily

 

This then made Eri and Shiki smile, happy to see Neku okay again, and this also made Rhyme giggle, happy for the same reason

 

Joshua then twirled his hair

 

“You know, now that we have Neku’s God powers under control, I think now would be a good time to see what you could do with them. Wouldn’t you agree Neku?” the composer asked

 

“Huh? What’re you getting at Josh?” Neku asked crossing his arms

 

“the trip back will cost a lot of energy you know. Doing this will help you get ready” Joshua answered.

 

Joshua then stood up causing Neku’s friends to do the same

 

“That’s a good point Neku, we all need to be ready for this so, I guess now we can see what your God form’s like with it under control” Shiki said sweetly

 

Neku then hid his face and hid his hands in his pockets.

 

“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you’re nervous” Joshua said slyly

 

He then chuckled at Neku

 

“Are you afraid Neku?” he asked twirling his hair

 

Rhyme then looked at Neku sadly

 

“It’s okay Neku. We don’t have to do that right now” Rhyme said concerned

 

“I…I finally have that form under control. I just…don’t want to…to use it again. Not after it almost killed me” Neku said weakly

 

“But your wings store the power of the energy too Neku. It’s not all bottled up inside you anymore, remember?” Eri added

 

“Yeah…I know. It’s just…I’ve lost all of you, my friends…and I lost myself to demon energy and God energy. I don’t want to lose that again. I guess, you‘re right Josh. I was scared the whole time. from the Angels' Game, to fighting Demons, to feeling helpless with everything out of control, I know now that...I was scared all the way up to now...but I didn‘t want to accept it” he explained

 

Joshua then smiled at Neku with a smug smile and placed his hands in his front pockets.

 

“Even if you lost control, you got that control back Neku. I know you’re afraid of the future, afraid of losing what matters to you. But part of living, is growing through experience. Facing your fears is how you become strong” he said wisely.

 

Neku then looked up at Joshua in shock

 

“Everyone has something they’re afraid of, something that hurts them. The future begins with you. Your actions can affect your future” Joshua said to Neku

 

Neku then smiled

 

“heh, thanks…Joshua” he said sincerely

 

Joshua then shrugged

 

“It was nothing really” he said nonchalantly

 

Shiki then walked closer to Neku filled with concern

 

“Are you sure you want to do this? I mean you just got control over the God energy Neku, the last thing we need is for it to go undone” she said sadly squeezing Mr. Mew against her chest

 

Filled with happiness over her concern, to know that he has people that care about him, Neku couldn’t help but chuckle and give her a thumbs up with his left hand.

 

“Don’t worry Shiki, I’ve got this” he said smiling

 

He then placed his left hand back down to his side.

 

Shiki then smiled and giggled

 

“okay, if you say you can do it, then I know it’ll be alright” she said happily

 

Neku then smiled back at her

 

“Get your Angel energy ready, I’m gonna use my God form now” Neku said to her

 

She then nodded her head and snapped her fingers, summoning her Angel aura, making the others automatically get their Angel auras around them too.

 

After that, Neku then placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes, hiding his mouth in his collar.

 

“Open up your senses” he said aloud

 

The moment he opened his eyes, Neku became his God form, creating his wings that balance the God energy again making his friends smile at him.

 

“So what do you want to do to harness your God energy?” Eri asked

 

Neku then scratched his head

 

“I dunno. That’s a good question” he said unsure

 

Joshua then chuckled

 

“maybe you could take advantage of how you can make anything with your mind and now, not require focus to do it, like you do normally” Joshua said with his hands in his front pockets

 

Neku then crossed his arms and glared at Joshua for his sarcastic tone of voice.

 

“Oh really? So you’re saying if I…I don’t know….wanted it to rain chicken nuggets with ranch dressing on them that suddenly--

 

At that moment Shiki cut him off

 

“Uh…Neku, you might want to look up” she said pointing to the sky

 

At that moment he and the others all saw chicken nuggets all fall from the sky. As they did, they noticed the nuggets were considerably bigger than normal, the nuggets were roughly the size of a car.

 

“Aw snap! I…I really did that?!” Neku yelled at the nuggets fell

 

At that moment he heard other Composers and Angels moan as ranch dressing splashed everywhere distracting them from their work, causing them to instantly stare at Neku.

 

Feeling embarrassed Neku scratched his head again

 

“Uh…sorry about that” he said shyly

 

Neku then snapped his fingers making the nuggets and dressing disappear. Then at that moment a ball of light flew to them and became Mr. H

 

“heh, what’s going on Phones? One minute I’m working on something in my house and then I see Chicken nuggets falling from the sky” he said scratching his neck

 

“How’d you know it was me?” Neku said curious with his left hand outward

 

Mr. H then chuckled

 

“cause only a Spirit that loves that food as much as you would make it rain chicken nuggets kiddo. The moment I saw the ranch dressing that gave it all away. While watching over you in the RG, I’ve seen you eat them with ranch a few times too” the Angel said smiling

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“heh heh, yeah that’s me all right. But don’t worry the nuggets are gone now see? So everything’s fine” Neku said smiling

 

“Boy this takes me back, this is just like when you were learning how to control your imagination remember?” Mr. H said happily

 

“yeah that’s right! I made music notes rain from the sky and--

 

He then looked up to make sure that didn’t happen again, causing Mr. H and Neku’s other friends to giggle. Neku then looked back at Mr. H and smiled

 

“anyway, I was trying to test out what I can do in my God form now that I can balance out its power and not have it try to kill me” Neku explained

 

“that’s a good call Phones, it’ll be cool to see what you can do now, you don’t mind if I watch do ya?” Mr. H asked

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“not at all” he said happily

 

“Alright then, I’ll give ya some space Phones” the Angel said happily

 

Mr. H then became a ball of light and flew a few feet back and became his human form again giving Neku some room and at that moment Rhyme had an idea

 

“Hey Neku, remember how you learned that Angels can make Noise?” she said smiling

 

Neku then smiled at her

 

“yeah, I remember that. In addition to that, I also know that you have a connection to the Noise since you became one in the Reapers’ Game” he added

 

“huh? How do you know that? I mean, I know I've become Noise in front of you but still” Rhyme said shocked

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“I can just…sense it, that’s all” he said nonchalantly

 

Rhyme then giggled

 

“that’s really cool. Anyway, I was just thinking that, since you want to test out your now in control God form, why don’t we make some new types of Noise?” she suggested

 

“New type of Noise? Heh not bad. That’s good thinking there Rhyme. I’ll admit, I’m actually kind of curious about doing that too” Neku said smiling at her

 

“alright, then let’s get started” Rhyme said happily

 

Shiki and the others then gave Neku and Rhyme some room. after that, Neku then got into his usual pose for concentration and thought about the Noise he wanted to make, doing so caused him to glow with a gold aura. He then opened his eyes (making his aura go away) and created a hybrid of different animals as the new breed of Noise.

 

It had the arms of a gorilla, bat wings coming out of its shoulders and the head of a lion and the body of a bear. As they all looked at his creation, Neku’s friends all looked amazed at how easily he can make any type of Noise.

 

“Whoa…this is really cool Neku. So what’re you gonna call it?” Shiki asked

 

Neku then scratched his head unsure of what to call the Noise as well.

 

“Well…how about…Break Beat?” he answered

 

“break Beat? What’s that?” the seamstress friend said curiously with Mr. Mew cocking its head to the side

 

“It’s a sub genera of Hip hop that focuses more on the beat, making Percussion way important in this style” Neku answered with his hand on his hip

 

Eri then giggled

 

“that’s really cool Neku, but how come you named it after a genera of music?” she said happily

 

“ever notice that Noise are named after music generas? Like Samba, Emo, Goth Metal the list goes on. I figured that I should do that too you know?” he said smiling

 

Beat then laughed thinking about how cool it was that Neku knows so much about music.

 

“yo man, that was tight. That’s so cool that you know alla that stuff Phones” Beat added

 

Mr. H and Joshua then looked at the Noise and smiled

 

“this is a very unique creation Neku. I think it’d be interesting to see it fight another Noise, don’t you think?” he said with his hand in his back pockets

 

Neku then looked at Joshua a little shocked, that he was invested in what Neku was doing

 

“Huh? You want me to make another Noise to have them fight? Heh, I didn’t think you’d be that interested” Neku admitted

 

Joshua then twirled his hair

 

“well what can I say Neku, it’d be interesting to see them fight each other wouldn’t it? To have them both at your mercy, to do as you command, knowing that you and only you, have authority over them” he said slyly

 

Neku then placed his left hand by his head with his right hand on his waist and sighed

 

“You really know how to kill my high Josh” Neku said annoyed

 

Joshua then chuckled

 

“and you are simply too easy to annoy Neku. You’re doing it again, the hand by your head, you did that when I annoyed you in the UG remember? Well…that is in addition to yelling at me of course” the smug Composer added

 

Neku then sighed again and then crossed his arms causing the other friends to glare at him, making Mr. H laugh

 

“c’mon now guys, that’s just Joshua’s sense of humor” Mr. H said with his hand on his neck

 

Shiki then giggled

 

“he has a point Neku. So you still want to try that? You know, making Noise fight each other?” she asked

 

“sure. I gotta admit it is kinda interesting” Neku said smiling

 

The then closed his eyes again and focused, making himself glow gold again and opened his eyes revealing another new Noise.

 

 

It had the body of a Panther, the legs of a hawk and the tail of a horse with the wings of an eagle.

 

Joshua then looked at the Noise and nodded his head

 

“interesting hybrid Neku. I like that this one has wings too, that way it’ll be an interesting fight” he said slyly

 

“So what are you going to call this one?” Rhyme asked

 

Neku then scratched his head

 

“How about…Ska Noise?” he subjected

 

“Ska…what’s that?” Rhyme asked

 

“Rock with an emphasis on brass instruments” Neku answered

 

“cool” Rhyme said smiling

 

 

At that moment Mr. H walked up to Neku

 

“I gotta hand it to ya Phones, these Noise look pretty cool” mr. H added in, making Neku smile

 

“well, I guess you guys are gonna want to step back now” Neku added

 

His friends then did as he suggested and Neku snapped his fingers making the Break Beat Noise and Ska Noise viciously slash each other until they dissolved into static

 

“a tie? Well that was unexpected” Joshua said shrugging

 

After that, Rhyme became her were wolf Noise form and Neku made more Noise for her to fight, causing them all to watch impressed by her ability to shape shift into other Noise types and then became her normal self after killing all the Noise.

 

Wanting to practice more with his God powers, Neku then decided that he and his friends could go Star Gazing.

 

“so…how are we suppose to go star gazing without any stars to look at?” Eri said confused

 

Neku then placed his right hand on his waist with a smug smile.

 

“Heh, don’t worry about that, that’s where I come in.” Neku said happily

 

He then focused and closed his eyes with his hands on his head

 

“Open up your senses” he said quietly

 

As he focused Neku glowed with a gold aura again and recreated outer space in front of them as the sky (though only a small portion, so that way other Death Gods and Angels wouldn’t get so distracted by it replacing the sky in their district)

 

While the friends were distracted, Joshua and Mr. H teleported a few feet away to talk in private.

 

“whoa…this is so cool” Rhyme said in awe

 

Neku then opened his eyes, making his gold aura disappear and placed his hands by his side

 

“this is amazing Neku! I can’t believe you did that with God energy” Eri said happily

 

“heh, that was nothin'’” he said smiling

 

Shiki then giggled

 

“well I guess now we can go star gazing” she said happily

 

Neku then chuckled and he and his friends all laid down on the meadow and looked at the window into outter space. It was something that pleased Mr. H and Joshua as they stood further away from Neku and his other friends.

 

“I’m glad he was able to pull this off. You know he’ll need to do this when they go back” Mr. H said telepathically

 

“I know, I guess we should be glad that he’s okay with it now” Joshua said telepathically too.

 

As they watched over Neku, Mr. H then told Joshua to keep an eye on Neku since he was going to go back to his house to add more updates on Neku’s progress. Agreeing with the Angel, Joshua then went and laid next to the others

 

“it’s amazing…isn’t it? To know we’re all…so small. That we’re all part of this place, that we’re just on one little planet lost in a massive, endless world” Neku said thoughtfully

 

“yeah, to think we’re just from one little galaxy. Who knows what else could be in space right?” Eri added

 

“I still can’t get that you did dat yo…dat you got energy from space inside you Phones…that stars went inside you” Beat said astonished

 

“Heh, me either. It felt like I was getting jolts inside me over and over, like I was being shot with a tazer.” Neku added

 

“damn, that sounds painful Neku. But I’m glad you got through it, that we all got through alla dat stuff you went through” Beat said smiling

 

“Same here” Neku said happily

 

He then pointed his finger to the window to space with his left hand and began to trace a consolation he saw in the sky. The moment he did, he looked in shock as he saw dark blue streaks in space

 

“whoa that’s…is that my energy?” Neku said surprised

 

Joshua then chuckled, amused by Neku

 

“Oh Neku…did you forget what I told you? Hee hee, you should pay attention more” Joshua said smugly

 

“huh? What’re you talking about” Neku asked

 

“as you know, what you are right now is energy, a human soul or Ghost, as they’re also called. In addition to this, spirits are part of the universe Neku, so it makes sense for you to be able to have your energy in the universe to trace consolations, doesn’t it?” the wise Composer said smiling.

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“yeah…when you put it that way, it sorta does” he answered

 

After that Neku then kept tracing the stars, creating the big dipper and little dipper. Then after doing this, Neku’s other friends joined in and traced the consolations of the zodiac.

 

Seeing as another way to have fun with the universe, Neku and friends would point at asteroids and swish them towards each other to play Tin Pin Slammer, but with the asteroids replacing the pins, with whoever’s asteroid blowing up first loses.

 

In order to differentiate the asteroids, the friends added their energies around them making dark blue, pink, pinkish purple and green asteroids all crashed into each other for three rounds.

 

Neku won the first two rounds then Shiki won the last one (due to him becoming so good at Tin Pin slammer, however, it was still a little hard for him to do the same thing with asteroids vs. moving a pin with his finger)

 

After playing what Beat called: Asteroid Slammer, for a bit longer, Neku and friends then used Neku’s imagination to have Beat become a Rhino and Neku become his dragon energy form. After that the two boys fought each other with them both getting beat up and then reverting back to their normal forms, so Beat could give Neku a noogie.

 

They all then agreed to return to the HP Shibuya letting Joshua go back to his job (with Neku altering his vibe frequency) changed the current season of Shibuya from Summer to Fall with his mind. the season Autumn then took over Shibuya, causing Neku to turn all the leaves yellow orange and red and have leaves blow in the wind.

 

He then opened his eyes and he and his friends enjoyed the view. They all smiled and Neku couldn’t help but chuckle as he over heard spirits commenting on the season changing. As the friends walked around the city they all started to feel a little chilly, causing them to use their minds to wear more appropriate clothing.

 

The red part of Beat’s shirt became long sleeves, the shirt Eri wore beneath her hoodie became long sleeved and she wore brownish red colored leggings too. Rhyme made her shorts become pants and Neku wore his hoodie outfit again, making Shiki giggle causing him to scratch his head.

 

After roaming the city filled with delight with the warm colors surrounding them, Neku then had a smug smile on his face.

 

“huh? What’s wid the face yo?” Beat asked

 

Neku then placed his left hand on his hip and chuckled

 

“I was just remembering something you said in the Reapers’ Game” he answered

 

“remember when you left the Reapers and how Uzuki said you were on thin ice? In other words, you were in trouble? Well I was just thinking of what you said to her. You said that Shibuya isn’t cold enough to get ice. See where I‘m getting at?” Neku added

 

Beat then looked at Neku in shock

 

“BWAAAAH! How the hell you’s able to remember somethin’ that far back Phones? It’s been a month an' a half since the Reapers’ Game man!” Beat roared

 

This then caused Rhyme, Shiki and Eri to giggle

 

“well, I just have a really good memory about certain things. I can remember things that happened in the past pretty well…to the point it kind of sucks sometimes. But it’s for that same reason that I remembered you saying that man” Neku said smiling

 

Beat then chuckled

 

“that is tight Phones! I wish I was good at ‘memering stuff. So you saying that you’re gonna make it snow or somethin’?” the freaking Rhino asked

 

Neku then snapped his fingers making the next season Winter in Shibuya

 

“you could say that” he said happily

 

Neku’s friends then looked down at their clothes and noticed they automatically had coats and mittens on, making Shiki smile.

 

“thanks Neku” she said sweetly

 

“huh? Thanks for what?” he said curious making her giggle

 

“for looking out for us, making sure we were warm” Shiki said sincerely

 

At that moment Neku felt a cold gust of wind making him shiver, making Shiki place her right hand on his right shoulder and close her eyes. The moment she opened them she saw Neku open his, no longer shivering, and smiled at her since he now wore his winter clothes.

 

“Heh, thanks” he said sweetly

 

“don’t mention it” Shiki said smiling

 

“You guys always look out for me don’t you?” he said happily

 

“of course, what’re friends for, right?” Eri said happily

 

“right” Neku said back remembering how she protected him when they fought against Anthony and his Soul Stealers

 

He then snapped his fingers again and made the Scramble Crossing become frozen, making some of the other spirits smile and throw snow at each other. Seeing this then gave Neku and friends an idea.

 

They all decided to use abilities both from the Reapers’ Game and their abilities from the Higher Plane in a snow ball fight causing Shiki to make Mr. Mew come to life and make it throw snow balls at Neku.

 

He then fought back and placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes making him float as he recreated his Blue Bloods Burn Blue pin but instead of fire it was ice that going towards Mr. Mew causing the piggy to head to Shiki’s command

 

“Go Mr. Mew!” Shiki shouted

 

The piggy then went and knocked Neku out of the sky causing him to then teleport to the ground and shoot snow at the toy and Shiki the way he’d summon energy and shoot it as bullets as one of his Psychs. Beat then skateboarded to Neku at break neck speeds, causing snow to go hurdling towards Neku.

 

The friends then all fired snow at each other with Joshua even joining in. he teleported to the scene making himself float in the air as he fired energy at the ground making snow go flying, he then created an avalanche causing all of the other friends to look in shock

 

“Aw snap! Joshua what’re you--

 

Neku and friends then see the avalanche head towards them causing them to fly away trying to escape it. Joshua then chuckled and crashed the snow in to them and glided to the ground.

 

“what’s wrong?” Joshua said chuckling

 

Neku then groaned and the others then glared at Joshua

 

“You always know how to screw with me and ruin my high” Neku said annoyed

 

“Ruin your high? Well this is interesting, I never knew you were into that sort of thing. Hee hee” Joshua said pulling back his hair

 

Neku then sighed hiding his face in his collar and covering his eyes with his bangs. He and the others then got out of the giant heap of snow.

 

“You know what I mean” Neku said crossing his arms

 

“you always like to mess with him, don’t you?” Shiki said crossly

 

“well you could say that” Joshua said chuckling

 

“How about we really have a fight, if you get where I’m going with this” he added slyly

 

Shiki and Eri then chuckled

 

“well count me in” Eri said happily

 

“same here yo” Beat said smiling with Rhyme also agreeing

 

“well then how about you Neku?” Joshua said curious

 

Neku then chuckled placing his left hand on his wasit again

 

“A chance to go nuts throwing snow at Shibuya’s Composer? The same ass that would tease me in the UG? How could I refuse?” Neku said with his smug smile

 

Shiki then giggled at how Neku wanted to get back at Joshua for that time

 

“alright then, it’s settled…

 

Joshua then teleported away a few feet from them and created a tsunami of snow and hurled it at Neku and friends. Neku then placed his hand on his head and tapped his foot creating sound shock waves to the beat blowing up the tsunami of snow.

 

Joshua then chuckled and generated snow balls the size of boulders and hurled them at the friends causing Neku and Shiki to look at each other and smile. The two then held hands and flew at Joshua in a spiral like motion, becoming a stream of dark blue and pink energy swirling around each other drilling through some of the snow balls.

 

Beat then skateboarded to the snow boulders and slammed into them with his skate board and a snow boulder from the sky with a green aura and hurled it at Joshua making it like a meteor.

 

Shiki and Neku then drilled through seven of the thirteen snow boulders and then let go of each other and hurled snow meteors at Joshua with Rhyme and Eri also imagining them.

 

Joshua then chuckled and threw his boulders at them, as the got crushed and flew to him, Joshua merely stood still as the meteors slowed down and then he snapped his fingers making them dissolve. Mr. Mew became its panther form and slashed snow at Joshua and Shiki made more snow meteors fall towards him.

 

As they all attacked hitting each other with snow, Shiki had an idea and decided to recreate on of her fusion attacks. She then made her arms form an “x” (doing hr third fusion pose) and shouted her command

 

“go Mr. Mew!” making Mr. Mew grow giant

 

She then teleported to the toy making Neku do the same

 

“Go get ‘em piggy” he said to the toy

 

Mr. Mew then charged up Shiki’s energy at fired it at Joshua making it dissolve into two massive avalanches (one being fired from each eye)Joshua then shot snow like fire works at the avalanches making the fire work snow pop and crackle as it blew up Shiki’s avalanches.

 

He then fired the fire work snow at the friends making Rhyme summon a wall of ice for the friends to hide behind. Once they did Neku and friends then shot snow at Joshua like bullets knocking Joshua back.

 

They then left the wall and charged at Joshua with him summoning another snow tsunami Neku then closed his eyes and placed his hands on his head and floated in the air creating a snow twister that pushed the wave back. Rhyme then made wolf Noise out of ice and snow and Eri made a snow dragon that breathed hail target Joshua.

 

 

 

Having all these intense amounts of imagination all focused on each other, each persons’ creation clashed and all exploded upon impact making Shiki chuckle seeing how they were all covered in snow from attacking each other.

 

“heh, good work Neku. I can see that your friends have all become very strong. I doubt their imaginations could’ve pulled this off before” Joshua said chuckling

 

“we’ll take that as a complement” Shiki said happily

 

Feeling a little tired, Neku’s fatigue was then expressed on the environment. the snow melted in a matter of seconds making Shibuya now go into Spring and everyone (except Joshua due to him not wearing any) lost their winter clothes and had their normal outfits again.

 

Sensing their fatigue Joshua felt like they needed rest. The smug Composer placed his hands in his front pockets and chuckled

 

“I can see that took a lot out of all of you, having to use your mind to create so many things at once can put a strain on a spirit over time. So I guess I’ll go back now to give you all some space” he said with a smug smile

 

Neku then couldn’t help but chuckle

 

“that’s a good idea” he said smiling at his Composer friend

 

“Alright, I’ll leave you all to that then. Also, in a while Neku…there’s some things you need to be told” he said with a more serious tone

 

Noticing this, Neku then crossed his arms.

 

“Huh? What do you mean by that?” he said curiously

 

Joshua then merely pulled back his hair and chuckled

 

“Now where’s the fun if I tell you everything? Hee hee. All in due time Neku” Joshua said slyly

 

Neku then hid his face getting chills down his spine from feeling a little nervous from the tone in Joshua’s voice

 

“Josh…why can’t you just--

 

He then looks up to Joshua wave goodbye and become a ball of light that flew away from view making Neku sigh

 

“he always has to act like he’s hiding something…but…even if he does…I know that I can trust him” he said sincerely

 

“That’s just how he is I guess, but I’m glad that he spent time here with us” Eri said smiling

 

Neku then smiled back at her

 

“me too” he added

 

The friends then said their goodbyes and went to each others’ homes to rest

 

 

 

To be continued…


	45. Never Forget

Neku and friends all relaxed at home from their Snowball War and all wondered what to do next. As Neku relaxed on his bed to recharge after using a ton of energy to counter Joshua’s Snow Tsunamis, he sat up and began to work on Spray Paint art when he over heard Eri and Shiki talking

 

“that was so cool wasn’t it? I mean all the attacks we pulled off were so amazing” Eri said happily

 

“yeah tell me about it, that was really fun” Shiki said happily

 

“and that drill attack you and Neku did, that was so awesome” Eri said giggling

 

“man that was all so intense, and all the stuff Neku did. Geez he’s so strong” she added

 

Shiki then giggled

 

“yeah, he really is” she said smiling

 

“I’m glad that he finally has all of this…you know, friends” Eri said as she and Shiki sewed

 

“Same here. He went through so much, it’s no wonder that he couldn’t stand people, but now he knows what it’s like to have a real friend. I’m glad I know him too” Shiki said sweetly

 

Neku couldn’t help but smile as he spray painted, hearing them be thankful that he’s so happy. He then stops and got off of his bed and got on his shoes and began to walk out of his room when they continued their conversation

 

“Have you ever thought of erasing all of that? That we just go back in time and be there for Neku?” Eri said a little sad

 

Shiki then hanged her head too

 

“yeah I have. I hated learning about how so many people were mean to Neku, it made me so mad knowing that he had to put up with that for so long. Sometimes, I wish I could’ve met him before the Reapers’ Game, and just be there for him” Shiki said sadly

 

Neku then hanged his head knowing how painful that time really was

 

“All I had back then was CAT, it was the only thing that made me happy, him and his art. But now I’ve grown, thanks to them…still that’s a good point. I could erase all of that from ever happening, Taki’s death included” Neku thought grimly

 

Feeling like he needed their advice and discuss if it was a good idea, Neku then thought about visiting Shiki and placed his left hand on his bedroom wall, imagining he would teleport to her bedroom door the moment he phased through

 

“How were you able to put up with it?” Eri asked “I know you told me about it before, when you came back to the RG but…still…I would’ve done the same thing, to be happy and support Neku. I guess you really did mimic me back then” she said shyly

 

Neku then phased through his wall and was about to knock on the door when he paused, curious to hear what Shiki said.

 

“It’s cause he was so hurt, from yelling at me, to avoiding me, Neku always hated being around me…he hated me too. I know he did. I was just a person hiding behind a mask. I saw it, back when I was in Neku’s mind, to free him from Clarissa. All I was, all people were back then, was a person PRETENDING to be nice, that they would use him, and hurt him” Shiki said feeling heartache

 

“No…it’s not like that. I never hated you” Shiki heard a voice say

 

The girls then gasped startled to hear him

 

“Neku?! Were you spying on us?!” Eri said shocked

 

Neku then walked into the room and scratched his head

 

“well…I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation. Our minds are fused together so I could hear you guys talking as if you were right outside my room. Heh heh, I sort of just…couldn’t help it. It was cool hearing you guys talk about being my friends, how you were glad that I have that now” Neku said a little embarrassed

 

Neku then clasped his right shoulder hiding his mouth in his collar feeling that he may have insulted them and invaded their privacy.

 

“Sorry. I honestly didn’t mean it. It just sort of happened. I guess I’ll go now and--

 

He then felt something tug his shorts and looked down to see Mr. Mew shaking its head, like it was saying “no” it then pointed its stubby paw to Shiki and Eri, making him chuckle

 

“Well alright, if you guys don’t mind then…I’ll stay” he said with a smug smile with his left hand on his hip

 

He then glided over to the bed and sat next to Shiki and Eri being at Shiki’s left along with Mr. Mew who jumped on the bed and then sat on Shiki’s shoulder

 

“so you never hated me?” Shiki said shocked

 

“No…not even back then. That's 'cause you would’ve had to have broken my trust for me to hate you” he said looking down a little

 

“I was like that around you, because you were annoying. I hated people back then, and thought they were stupid and annoying, that they would let me down” Neku said sadly

 

“What do you mean?” Shiki said empathetically

 

“remember when I told you about my childhood? How I was betrayed by my friends, and how they argued with me, insulting me over the things I like? Well in addition to that, my friends would leave me hanging. They’d make promises they couldn’t keep. From saying that they’d hang out with me a certain day and then just not say anything, ultimately ditching me, to not even mentioning it. It was like it never happened to me” Neku explained

 

“But Neku, sometimes people make plans. Sometimes people have things that get in the way” Eri said sadly

 

“I know, but the least they could’ve done is tell me…right? Instead, one after the other, more and more friends were doing that. They’d get my hopes up, only to have them go crashing down, making me feel like I couldn’t trust their words” he said grimly

 

“Loyalty…it’s something that I valued back then, and still do. I guess I just expected for them to just do that, to have the same loyalty I did. But in the end, they didn’t…none of them did. Until, I met you guys” Neku said hiding his face until only his bangs showed with his hands in his pockets

 

“exactly, so just focus on the now Neku"” Shiki said smiling

 

Neku then looked up at her and smiled

 

“Luckily you don't need to worry about that with us. If there's a time where we're too busy to hang out, we'd make sure to let you know. Loyalty is important to me too" Eri said happily

 

“I know. You guys have all proven that to me. Even back in the Reapers’ Game, there was a point when Shiki could‘ve left me behind. Back when we were in the dark trying to find our way out to A-East. But even then, she refused, tripping at least a dozen times while trying to find me, and said to me that she wouldn‘t leave without me. She chose to come back when she could've just as easily found someone else to be her partner.” Neku said sweetly

 

Shiki then smiled at him seeing how that affected him, showing that she was loyal to him, not just as a partner, but as a person. She didn’t want to abandon him

 

“still there are times when I want to change the past” he added

 

Neku then closed his eyes and summoned Angel wings and gently pulled one of the feathers out of his right wing, and dissolved his Angel wings

 

“with this, I could make all those moments never have happened. It’d all be washed away and maybe…I could even save Takato from that train hitting him” Neku said seriously

 

Shiki and Eri then looked at him shocked

 

“But Neku, messing with the flow of time is risky business, there’s no telling what that could do!” Eri said concerned

 

Shiki then looked at him filled with sadness

 

“If you did that, then…it could erase us from your timeline too. You said it yourself Neku, in addition to being bullied your entire childhood by your fake friends, after Taki’s death, you couldn’t take it anymore and pushed everyone away, which lead you to only being happy in Udagawa. If you did that then…I might never meet you. None of us would”

 

Shiki then placed her left hand on his

 

“Do you really want to risk that? It could change everything Neku. Please don’t” she said feeling her eyes burn

 

Neku then looked at her seeing Shiki’s sadness and then looked down at his Angel feather and closed his eyes making it dissolve, and then opened his eyes again.

 

“thanks…Shiki. You’re right, both of you are. I honestly have had thoughts about that…but it’s always you guys that help me not try it. every time I feel like maybe using an Angel feather to do that…I always think about the Reapers’ Game…about my…friends” he said sincerely

 

“You really mean that?” Shiki said shocked (with her eyes no longer watering)

 

“well yeah. I wouldn’t be who I am now if it wasn’t for all of you. I’m glad that I have that, and feel like in order to preserve that, everything should be the way it is” he said smiling

 

Eri then glided to him

 

“You really scared me Neku. Please don’t think like that. Remember the song? Shiki told me it means a lot to you” she said smiling

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“yeah, I know that I don’t have to think like that, that’s in the past. I know I’m not alone. Thanks for the reminder” he said smiling

 

The girls then giggled causing Neku to scratch his head again feeling embarrassed. He then gets up from the bed ready to give the girls their space

 

“Hey um…I was going to walk around Shibuya for a bit incase you want to come too” Neku said smiling

 

Shiki and Eri then smiled at him

 

“Sure Neku” Shiki said happily

 

“I’d like that too” Eri said smiling

 

They then got up and glided out of the room together and were about to leave Shiki’s half of the house when Neku felt a little jolt in his head making him place his right hand on his head

 

“Neku?” Shiki said concerned

 

“hello there Neku, I’d hate to interrupt, but now is when you need to know what I wanted to tell you before. It’ll be private so come to the top of 104 alone” Joshua said telepathically

 

Neku then opened his eyes and looked at Shiki

 

“I’m okay, Joshua was just zapping me with his Composer energy again. It happens when I feel his presence at a vibe frequency higher than the way it was in the UG. He just said he wanted to talk to me in private, that‘s all” he said reassuringly

 

Shiki and Eri then looked a little sad

 

“oh…well that ruins things doesn’t it?” Eri said sad

 

“don’t worry I’m sure it won’t be long” Neku said smiling

 

understanding the importance of this conversation, Shiki and Eri let Neku go saying goodbye to him and he flew out of the house and flew to the scramble crossing. He then closed his eyes and teleported to the top of 104 where Joshua waited. He then turned around to see Neku

 

“Glad to see you made it Neku” Joshua said with his usual smug smile

 

The Composer then walked over to Neku and sat down at the edge of the building, taking full advantage of his immortality, causing Neku to do the same.

 

“so what’s up? What did you want to talk about?” Neku asked

 

“I was monitoring you Neku, and I saw what you were about to do. I was giving you space to see what you would do before you and your friends leave this world, and return to the living and I saw you were about to use an Angel feather to alter your timeline. In all honesty, I thought you would go through with it, though I’m glad that Shiki and Eri talked you out of it” Joshua explained

 

“Yeah, you guys always seem to be looking for me, and making sure I don’t do something I’d regret” Neku said looking at him smiling a little

 

“that’s what I wanted to talk to you about, how there are things you simply need to accept before you and your friends are alive again. I know that you have many regrets Neku, but part of expanding your world is accepting what you can’t change and become stronger with what you can” the Composer said wisely

 

Hearing that remark, knowing that there are things that Neku wishes he could undo, made his smile vanish.

 

“So…you’re saying that even if I can make my life change through my actions, that I shouldn’t? that I should except the parts that hurt? But what if I can’t live how I want to live Joshua? What if the world tries to tear it apart?” he said sadly

 

 

“Even if it does try to, that's something that you nee to face. remember what we discussed before Neku, that you'll have us. You and I are a lot alike. I know how it feels to want to have someone you can trust, and be afraid of losing that life. It’s the same pain I felt when I was first getting use to Sanae” Joshua said sternly

 

Neku then looked at him in shock

 

“Huh? How could you not trust Mr. H? he’s amazing Joshua, I know he wouldn’t abandon you” he exclaimed

 

“Exactly. But because I was so use to people shunning me when I was a kid, and thinking I was weird bacause of me looking like I was staring out into space, seeing dead people, that I figured he would've thought I was a freak too. I didn’t trust anyone and had my suspicions about him. Yet there was something about him, that made me want to be with him, despite how I was unsure of Mr. H, sort of like how you hated being near Shiki during the first week. But over time, he proved his loyalty earning my trust” Joshua said smiling a little

 

“That fear of being abandoned, was something I had to overcome, and thanks to him, I did and you can do the same. Even if the world gets in your way, you can still affect it by the actions you take. It’s something you and I both had to face, fear of the unknown. The fear of that possibility, that we would be hurt by others again” the Composer said wisely

 

“Fearing the unknown? Fearing that I would be hurt again? Heh…that’s something I understand. It’s why I didn’t want to let Shiki in, that possibility of her hurting me made me hate being around her” Neku asked

 

“Exactly. That fear is something all people face Neku, he uncertainty that she made you feel, it’s also why humans tend to fear spirits” Joshua added

 

“But if spirits are the weakest form of energy, then why would people be afraid of them?” Neku said curiously

 

“that’s because, compared to a human, Spirits are very powerful. From being able to possess them, to their belongings, to even wounding them and even transforming to menacing creatures to scare them, like an other worldly beast, a monster and the ghosts that are trapped in the RG tend to take out their frustration on them, making the people who believe in ghosts to be afraid of them. Only through facing our fears, can we see how strong we really are” he added

 

Neku then looked down for a minute, just processing everything Joshua said

 

“Yeah…like the Reapers’ Game. you’re the friend that I relate to the most, the one that I have the most in common with, so I know you’ll understand. Back when I first entered the Game, I thought it was Paradise, it was a dream that I didn’t want to wake up from. That’s why I wondered that when I survived the seven days, that the dream would end” he explained

 

“I hate having to admit this...but...seeing the Reapers, thinking that they were just people with plastic wings on them, like they were cosplayers, to seeing them summon Noise, it….it terrified me. I knew now I was in over my head, dealing with something no one in the RG ever would, something a normal person never would” He said weakly

 

“To make matters worse, to make things even more overwhelming, I fought the first GM’s Noise form, and he’d actually drain the energy out of my pins! Seeing him turn into that giant Ox like Noise…and slam me onto the ground, I knew he could’ve killed me” Neku added

 

“Ah, Yodai Higashizawa. He’s the one who would target Shiki because of her jealousy. He’s the one who said that no one loved her. Do you see Neku? Even if that was something that terrified you, seeing that for the first time, you were still able to over come that, just like how you overcame your fear of demons and Death himself” Joshua said wisely

 

He then snapped his fingers and recreated the same gun he used to kill Neku, making him look up at him Composer friend in shock

 

“J-Joshua? What’re you planning?!” Neku asked anxiously

 

Joshua then chuckled

 

“they really are interesting little weapons aren’t they? It’s one of the reasons I’m so fond of them. Something so small, can have such an impact on someone’s life” Joshua said with a sly smile at his Proxy

 

“Huh? What’re you getting at?” Neku said confused

 

“It’s just like what I told you in the UG remember? All of life’s little cross roads are as simple as pulling a trigger. Everything has a consequence, some good, some bad. Through existing in the world, we learn more about ourselves. It’s just like how you all taught me to see that Spirits are something more than the energy within humans. From the people we meet, to the choices we make, everything effects another person” Joshua said wisely

 

“Just like how firing a gun, can protect someone, or kill someone. It’s all about perspective Neku, and how we choose to live, even if there are thins in life we can't control, it's important to take advantage of what we can. That’s why I know no matter what happens, you can face the world and live again. That’s why I wanted to talk to you. Even if driven apart, those experiences and memories help one another never forget how important that person is to us” He said to Neku

 

Joshua then snapped his fingers, making the gun dissolve

 

“To…never forget? Even if we’re driven apart? I never thought of it like that….thanks….Josh…I know how hard it was for you to say all of that, that you understand how it feels, to be afraid of not knowing what the future holds, being afraid of uncertainty. But it‘s just like what you guys said to me in Udagawa, that I can face the world, that I can be with my friends again, no matter what” Neku said looking down

 

He then looked up and smiled

 

Joshua then chuckled

 

“there’s someone else who wants to speak to you too, also the Higher Ups are getting a little impatient waiting for your decision. Be sure to really think about it Neku, and let me know when you want to return. Just remember that I won’t see you again until you’re meant to cross over again” he said sternly

 

Joshua then stood up making Neku look up at him

 

“yeah…I’ll be sure to think about that” Neku said weakly

 

Joshua chuckled once again, looked back at Neku and smiled, and then became a ball of light and flew away leaving Neku time to think.

 

The troubled teen then hanged his head and sighed

 

“the Higher Ups…they’re waiting on my decision? But why me? What about the others? Their thoughts about this are important too. So why…why is it all on me?” Neku thought

 

“It’s cause the Higher Ups know that the others won’t leave without you” Neku heard a voice say

 

“That voice” Neku thought

 

He then looked up and turned his head behind him sensing energy there and saw a white orb fly up to his left and became a person that sat next to him.

 

“Heh, Mr. Hanekoma…I’m glad you’re here” Neku said looking down again

 

“What’s wrong? you seem troubled Neku” Mr. H said a little worried

 

“It’s just…Joshua told me the Higher Ups are getting impatient, that they want an answer from me. Why me?” Neku said looking down

 

Mr. H then chuckled

 

“it’s like what I told you Phones, the Higher Ups know that your friends would never leave this place without you. They know how much your friends mean to ya, and know how much you mean to them. You really think after all they went through that they would leave you?” he said smiling at Neku

 

He then looked up at the Angel and smiled

 

“No…I know that they wouldn’t do that” Neku said happily but then looked away from him

 

“But…I won’t see you or Joshua again until I’m meant to die…for real this time. No going to the UG, no second chance at living again, it’ll be for real. Sure I was able to put up with it after I beat the Reapers’ Game, but that’s because I thought I’d see you two again” he said sadly

 

“I knew that you would continue your work as CAT and sometimes I could’ve sworn I’ve seen Joshua in the crowd for a split second, it‘s like he was watching over us during our first few weeks in Shibuya. But now that I know you guys are from the Afterlife, I know that this is your home, not the RG. I know that I won‘t see you guys again, just like how you both sort of disappeared for a while. so how can you be so laid back about all this? How can you be so self assured and happy?” Neku said doubtfully

 

The wise Angel then sighed and looked down, knowing that he would have to tell something that bothers him to his friend.

 

“It’s cause I understand why you’re worried about losing me and Joshua, but also having your friends from the UG too and I can see why you feel like your caught in the middle of everything, unsure of what to do. But even if you go back, you’d never lose us. We’d always be here watching over you until we see you again even if you didn‘t see us.” he said reassuringly

 

“Believe it or not, I know how you feel, I know what it’s like to lose someone I’ve seen it happen many times before” Mr. H admitted

 

Neku then looked up at him in shock

 

“How? It’s not like anyone’s hurt you. That’s impossible! You’re just so amazing and cool CAT how could anyone do that to you?” he said confused

 

Mr. H couldn’t help but chuckle at Neku’s ignorance, happy that Neku sees him in such a positive way.

 

“I’ve been around a lot longer than you have kiddo. The pain of being abandoned and hurt by people is something I understand too. It’s actually very common and happens to more people than you think, in fact, a huge percentage of people have all felt that pain Neku. Some just don’t show it as much as others, that’s why you never knew this in the past” Mr. H said empathetically

 

“Out of the many centuries I’ve lived thanks to Ascending to the Higher Plane, I’ve experienced a lot of things kid, including the loss of many friends. You lost one, and felt how deep that pain was and lived with it for many years until you made new friends in the Reapers’ Game. On top of that, you then you saw Joshua fake his own death in the UG, thinking it was all your fault, that you lead him to his death--

 

“what? How do you know about that?!” Neku said shocked

 

“that’s cause I was watching over you remember?” Mr. H reminded him

 

Neku then scratched his head

 

“Oh…right” he said bashfully

 

He then looked back at Mr. H

 

“You lost two people, and experienced how awful it feels…now imagine losing thousands of them, that you met many people that became important to you, that fought along side you…and lost them all. That is the burden that I’ve carried all this time” the Angel said sadly

 

Neku then hanged his head, speechless at what Mr. H had told him

 

“You…you know what it’s like to be hurt?” Neku said in disbelief

 

“Yeah…my friends, soldiers that fought alongside me….in the end, I either lost them to war or…because I had to kill them. As a result…I‘ve murdered thousands of my friends” Mr. H said darkly

 

 

Neku then raised his head and looked at Mr. H in shock

 

“what?! How?! how could you kill someone that’s your friend?!” he cried

 

“that’s because just like you kiddo, I was put into a situation where I had no choice…just like how your friends had to fight you as Damien, I fought some of my friends as demons. They tried all they could to kill me, being corrupted by it. Our friendship meant nothing then. Even my best friend, before Joshua was ever born in the RG, I was partnered up with another Angel…his name was Heiwah…it’s kind of ironic considering how back then his name was Peace and he’s someone that you have a connection to Neku” Mr. H added

 

“I’m connected to him? How?” Neku said curious

 

“You know him…as Kurushii” the Angel said sternly

 

Neku then gasped at the thought of him being like Kurushii when he lost himself. He then looked down filled with grief at far gone he truly was back then

 

“You mean…you’re saying that…I was like him?” Neku said sadly

 

“exactly. Although it’s uncommon for demons that aren’t at the Staccato or Smorzando ranking to be linked to him, there are special cases where a very minor link to him is forged causing that demon to take on his personality. The way you talked back then, how you loved to see your friends in agony, how you would mess with Shiki’s head sensing how she held your transformation against herself, were all common things Kurushii would do to female spirits or Angels, your love of wine and apples back then…it was all personality traits of Kurushii” Mr. H said darkly

 

“then once your demon energy became strong again, the mere mentioning of his name empowered your demon energy, making it spike up in power. But luckily my Angel pin protected you and stopped it from going any further” he added

 

“Yeah…I remember that” Neku said weakly “But I just don’t get it…out of all the people you’ve killed, all the friends you’ve lost, how can you be so happy Mr. Hanekoma?”

 

Mr. H then chuckled

 

“It’s cause…I’ve been abandoned too kiddo. I’ve also had my friends backstab me and become jealous of my ranking. Sometimes they’d go as far to trying to kill me. But it’s because of that, that just like you, I was able to learn what a true friend is. I found that in Yoshiya. He was hurt from the same pain that I was…and then I found that in you Neku. So…I decided, that I have all eternity to grieve over that pain, but I didn’t want to grieve over it anymore, and maybe even prevent others from feeling that pain too. I wanted to help others feel the happiness I did when I befriended Joshua” Mr. H said happily

 

Neku then looked up at Mr. H and smiled

 

“all this time, beneath that smile…he was just as hurt as I was” Neku thought

 

Mr. H then nudged him in the arm and laughed and replied to his thought

 

“You bet Phones. People can hide a lot behind a smile. But even if they do, there’s always someone who deep down is hurting. There are others like us” he said wisely

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“yeah…like Shiki, Beat and Joshua…in a way, I have something in common with all of them. With Shiki, I understood her sadness and how hurt she felt, with Beat, I understood how he felt like no one cared about him, and Joshua had the same views on the world that I did. On top of that, just like you said, he was lonely. He became the first friend I could relate to” he said smiling

 

“there you go Phones. That’s why I know you can go back. Thanks to what happened before, you now know that you’ll have your friends with you, and face the world again” he said happily

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“thanks CAT. You’re right…I feel a lot better about all this, that even if I don’t see you and Joshua again, that that doesn’t mean it’s over. You haven’t left me behind, that you guys will still be there for me” he said sincerely

 

Mr. H then patted Neku’s head

 

“exactly, no matter how far away we seem, we’ll always be here Neku…all of us, including your friends from the Game, and that doesn't mean Joshua and I can't also pop into the RG from time to time ” Mr. H said happily

 

Mr. H then told Neku to let him know when he’s ready and he would help them go back home. When Neku asked how they’d go back without having bodies to go back to, Mr. H said that would be a surprise and left as a white orb that flew back to his district

 

After the orb disappeared, Neku then hopped off of the top of the building and flew towards his house and teleported to his room to think about his decision. While doing so he then ate a rice ball that he had imagined up to sort of take his time eating and think about what to say to them. After finishing it, he then flew to Shiki’s living room to approach Shiki and Eri again

 

As he walked up the stairs of it that lead to the second floor of her house, leading to her bedroom, Neku paused for moment standing on them.

 

“this’ll really be our last time together before we die…for real. Should I…go back now? Maybe I can hold it off a little longer right?” Neku thought worried

 

He then lets out a frustrated sigh

 

“No, the Higher Ups could wait all eternity for me to make a decision…that’s not really fair to them I guess. I guess…I’ll just tell them now…I’ll tell all of them” he thought reassuring himself

 

Neku then walked up all the steps and walked to Shiki’s bedroom door and knocked on it.

 

“hey Shiki…it’s me” he said a little nervous

 

Shiki then glided to her door and opened it for Neku with Eri standing next to her

 

“hey there Neku. So did you finish talking to Joshua” she said smiling

 

He then smiled back

 

“yeah…and I was hoping I could tell you and Eri about it” he replied

 

Shiki then chuckled

 

“Sure” she said sweetly

 

Eri then added that she was happy to see Neku again.

 

They then headed out of the house and went over to the restaurant called Sunshine by the Shibukyu district and they all had ice cream there. Shiki’s was chocolate and Neku and Eri’s were Vanilla. She then smiled seeing how they both liked the same ice cream. As Neku was about to tell the girls what he and Joshua discussed, Rhyme and beat teleported to them with her giving Neku a smug little smile.

 

“You know how much I love ice cream Neku, and you didn’t invite me?” Rhyme said chuckling

 

Neku then scratched his head

 

“oh…well I figured you and Beat were doing something heh…um….sorry” he said awkwardly

 

Beat then chuckled telling him not to worry about it and then Rhyme and Beat joined in on eating ice cream with the others, with Beat’s ice cream being vanilla with chocolate sprinkles and Rhyme’s being vanilla too. Neku finally told them what Joshua and Mr. H revealed to him

 

“Man I…I still can’t believe Mr. H went though all of that…and, you really think it’s true? That the Higher Ups are getting impatient?” Eri said worried

 

“Yeah…I can’t get over it either. Beneath that cool, laid back personality…he was just as hurt as I was…and yeah, they could wait forever for me to make up my mind you know? And I guess it’s only fair not to make them wait too long. Especially since they probably have other stuff to do” Neku added

 

“but…

 

Neku then hanged his head and looked down for a moment

 

“I…I think I’m ready” he said quietly making his friends look at him concerned

 

He then raised his head and smiled

 

“I know from what you all said before that things will be alright” he said happily

 

His friends then smiled

 

“right. Just remember what we talked about” Eri said sweetly

 

“Hells yeah! We ain’t leavin’ widout chu man” Beat said strongly

 

“You’re not worried about going back?” Neku asked

 

“of course we are” Rhyme added “But we know it’ll be better with you there”

 

Neku then scratched his head feeling a little flattered

 

“thanks” he said shyly

 

 

After all smiling Neku and his friends then all took one last good look at the HP Shibuya.

 

“I guess, we can go to Joshua now and tell him” Neku said sternly

 

“yup. In a way, I’m…kind of sad that we’re leaving” Shiki said sadly

 

“But we’ll be back” Eri added

 

“right” Shiki said happily

 

The friends then teleported to the Composer district causing Joshua and Mr. H to teleport to them

 

“So you’ve all made up your mind?” Joshua asked

 

“yeah, we’re all ready” Rhyme said smiling

 

“glad to hear it” Joshua replied

 

Joshua then opened a portal to the RG but started in outer space

 

Neku then couldn’t help but hide his face again and hide his hands in his pockets

 

“So…this is really it then? …this is…the last time we’ll see each other? It’s just…now it’s…really hitting me. We’re going home” Neku said grimly

 

“yeah but this isn’t good bye Neku, you’ll see us again. That’s a promise” Mr. H said smiling

 

Neku then raised his head and smiled at him

 

“Now before you all leave, I need you all to close your eyes. I’m going to do a certain Imprint on all of you, think of this as a little gift from the Higher Ups” Joshua said

 

The friends then closed their eyes and felt a jolt in their heads for a few seconds and then opened their eyes

 

“what was that?” Neku asked

 

“A new era has started thanks to you all. It’s because of this that we now know how to cleanse demons, to help the ones that are broken and remember that they are spirits. You also helped us see that there are still things we don’t understand about human souls, that they are able to do things that we thought were impossible, and maybe, they aren’t as weak as we thought” Joshua announced

 

“You all have gotten a lot stronger since coming to the Higher Plane. What proves this even more is that Spirits usually don’t develop their second layer of energy until reaching a certain amount of exposure to the after life” he said filled with pride towards Shiki and Neku

 

“so it’s because of this I set up a Mental Lock on your minds. This locks certain information in your mind and blocks out people from reading it when done in the after life. That’s what I did to prevent Neku from hearing the plan I told Shiki, Beat and Rhyme when he was Damien” he added

 

“and because of you all helping us so much, as their sort of way of saying thanks, the Higher Ups are breaking a little rule of their own, you taught them that sometimes it’s okay to break them. So they’re letting you all remember the afterlife” Mr. H said smiling

 

Neku and friends then looked in shock

 

“But it comes at a price” Mr. H said darkly “this mental lock prevents you all from going insane from having this knowledge. However, at the same time, should any of you reveal this to anyone else, right at that moment, you’ll all drop dead, have your memories of this life wiped out, and be banished to the Blank Void”

 

Neku and his friends just looked speechless until one of them broke the silence

 

“We…really made that much of an impact? But…how would we go back without having a body?” Neku asked

 

Mr. H then chuckled

 

“that’s where we come in, we’re going to alter time itself rather then just going back you see. We’ll send you back in time, but have an Alteration Barrier around your God Energy barrier in the Demon Realm” Mr. H explained

 

“alteration barrier?” Neku said confused

 

“Exactly, since we Composers and Angels have mastery over time itself, we can also stop time Phones. So even though sending you back in time will remove what currently happened, meaning you never became a God, that barrier will stop that from being affected” Mr. H said smiling

 

Neku and friends getting the hint then smiled

 

“So then Ai, Mina, Sota, Nao, Taki…everyone that was ever killed will come back” He said happily

 

“Exactly, and because of how Shiki saved you from Clarissa's grasp, we now know that we can do this to help your friend Taki and free him from his demon energy” Joshua added

 

"you really can Josh?" Neku asked in shock

 

"Of course, and it was all thanks to you guys" Joshua said reassuringly

 

The Composer then faced his portal causing Mr. H to do the same

 

“Stepping through here will send you all to the depths of space. From there you’ll enter the Milky Way, the Spiral Galaxy you all are from, and then go to Earth, eventually reaching Japan” Joshua explained

 

Beat then just looked at Joshua in shock

 

“BWAAAAHAAH! So we’re goin’ in there?! Then how come it’ll take so long yo?! Ain’t it easier to jus’ teleport us to the RG or somethin’?” Beat asked

 

“well no. as you all have experienced, the journey from the RG to the Higher Plane is very exhausting causing spirits to collapse upon arriving here. Going back to the RG is just as difficult, so being in space and then going to the RG will allow your souls to be empowered by the energy of the universe” Joshua explained

 

Beat then scratched his head confused

 

“Yo man, I ain’t getting’ dis spurital stuff. Jus’ spill it” he said frustrated

 

“He’s saying that being in space will make the trip easier for you all” Mr. H said smiling

 

“Oh…I get that yo” Beat said smiling back

 

The friends then walked closer to the portal and turned back to Mr. H and Joshua

 

“so…I guess this is goodbye?” Shiki said weakly

 

“yes but it’s only for now” Joshua added

 

He then looked down for a few seconds and then looked back up

 

“Jus’ be sure to visit yo, don’ be a stranger ‘n stuff aight?” Beat said smiling at him

 

"yeah! that way we'd all be together" Rhyme said happily

 

“I appreciate that but Shibuya is where you belong, not me. You can't possibly mean that right?” Joshua said coldly

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“Well yeah...You know more about Shibuya then any of us. Thanks to being the Composer of Shibuya, you know more about its history than any other person. You’re...my friend…so it’s your home too” Neku said sincerely

 

Joshua then smiled a little

 

“maybe it…could be Neku” Joshua said a little happy

 

“we all want to see you again so remember that” Eri said happily

 

Joshua then looked at them in shock and then looked to his left a few seconds and looked back and smiled at them. The friends then all waved good bye and flew into the portal with Neku looking back at Joshua and Mr. H one last time, smiled, and then flew inside it making the portal dissolve.

 

They flew to the milky way and flew past all the other planets until reaching Earth. They then flew into it going past Earth’s atmosphere at such incredible speeds, they dissolved to their last layer of energy but not a single orb leaked, their auras were calm, their energies’ felt warm. It was their spirits at their purest form.

 

As they flew to the earth seeing its continents, they spotted Japan and flew towards Tokyo. Once reaching there, they then went to Shibuya where they all went their separate ways and flew to their houses.

 

Neku flew to his bedroom with his spirit now back at its 1st layer, and the alarm on his cellphone went off just like last time and Aya went to wake him up. Seeing how he wasn’t responding, Neku heard footsteps knowing that it was his mother and went close to his body. He then placed his right hand on it and was pulled inside, making color return to Neku’s body.

 

She then entered his bedroom and told Neku to wake up, that he would be late for school addressing to him as Neky, she then sighed and pulled back his back sheets and tickled his foot making him yell at her. she took him to school where then after that day the weekend arrived

 

“Same same streets, same crowds too, even now…Shibuya hasn’t changed a bit” he thought

 

“it’s funny when you think about it. It’s like…it never happened. No one will ever understand what happened. You don’t see it but, that past life…was very hard for me…

 

He then flashed back to when he met Cedric stabbing his stomach and then to his first encounter with Clarissa seeing her electrocute him

 

“Learning that I’m weak, that I can’t do everything on my own…even when I thought I could, and learning that…I’m just as vulnerable as everyone else”

 

He then flashed back to when he was in his third demon form and scratched Shiki’s face and when he danced with Shiki as Damien and formed red orbs in his hand holding her in the air choking her.

 

Neku then headed towards Hachiko as he continued his thoughts

 

“and learning…that there are things beyond my control”

 

He then flashed back to his trial seeing Joshua slash him with his energy scythe, the head Maestro squeezing his hair and the Angels’ Game, when he fought Kenta the serial killer seeing him electrocute Neku, and Kyoku the assassin seeing himself about to be killed by her and when he was overwhelmed by demon energy in the Game. He also flashed back to the second version seeing himself almost killed by Mr. H

 

He then sees Tetsu, Yusuke, and Mitsuru in his mind

 

“Coping with how everything changes, that I thought I‘d lose my friends, that there is uncertainty”

 

He then flashed back to when he saw Shiki, Beat, Rhyme and Eri as adults in the blank void and when he fought Death

 

“and…how they were always there for me…including you”

 

He then flashed back to what his friends said that meant the most to him starting with Shiki

 

“I’m not going to abandon you”

 

“I know how hard it is, to face the world, knowing that there are things beyond your control. but you faced it before, so I know you can do it again”

 

“You’ve helped me more than you’ll ever know Neku, part of being a friend is trusting them, and I trust you”

 

Then it was Beat

 

“yo man, don’tchu get it? We ain’t like them punks you met Phones! We ain’t gonna leave you hangin’ when you need help! So trus’ that yo! We’re friends Neku, and that ain’t ever gonna change”

 

“We’ll all be here man, ain’t nothin’ gonna take that away that’s a promise”

 

“You’re ain’t my friend no more, you’re…my brother”

 

Then Joshua

 

“Suffer so you can smile more. When we suffer, we can truly appreciate the time when we‘re happy”

 

“Only when we reach our lowest point, do we see how strong we truly are”

 

“You taught me that when we connect with others, will we do anything to keep those ties from being severed”

 

“I know now that you’re…my friend”

 

Then he remembered what Eri said

 

“I’ve never seen the point in hurting people, that’s all”

 

“just because you don‘t see us or hang out with us, it doesn‘t mean we don‘t care anymore”

 

“a real friend still cares even if they’re separated”

 

And then Rhyme

 

“learning from your mistakes is how you improve”

 

“sometimes I feel like I have no one to turn to either”

 

“no matter how bad things get, there’s always a way out”

 

He then continued walking getting closer to the statue

 

“Learning…that I’m helpless...and afraid”

 

He then flashed back to Anthony’s Soul Stealers attacking him in the court room, when he saw Anthony in the Apocalypse version of Shibuya, when he chased after Neku, when Anthony attacked stabbing his chest making him leak energy like lightning and when he nearly killed Mr. H making Neku watch.

 

“Learning that the man I respect so much...knows the same pain that you and I do and that in the end, I became stronger, I bettered myself. Sometimes…I try not to think about the past, but you all helped me realize that made me who I am, and helped me overcome it. You all made me see that I’ll always have you guys…even if we’re apart”

 

He then sat on the metal bars by the Hachiko Statue to think and relax

 

“Oh, and by the way, there’s something I forgot to mention, I didn’t get to tell you before but…after all the things you did…suddenly it doesn’t feel as bad anymore…that I can forgive you now…and I have. So…I‘ll see you there…right?”

 

He then sees Beat and Rhyme approach him with Rhyme saying he must have gotten up early to beat them to Hachiko. Then Eri appeared having a warm welcome to Neku’s group of friends and then finally Shiki appeared panting

 

“Sorry, I woke up late” she said bashfully

 

 

Neku then chuckled

 

“heh, this is just like last time…but in reverse”

 

Shiki then smiled

 

“yeah, I guess so” she said happily

 

As they spoke, Mr. H and Joshua in his true form watched over them seeing them smile and laugh

 

“You know, considering what’s happened, I think this turned out pretty well” Mr. H said smiling

 

 

"Despite how hard it was on all of them, I feel like in the end it was a good thing, that Neku sort of needed this after the Reapers' Game, to really show him they would be there for him, even in situations much more dangerous then your Game…anyways, you remember what the Higher Ups told you right?” he asked

 

Joshua then nodded

 

“I know…I guess I won’t see you in a while then, although, you're free to visit here whenever you want. Just make sure that everything’s alright while I’m gone” the Composer said

 

He then dissolved into sparks of light and left Mr. H who sat on the 104 building a little longer. As Neku’s friends began to leave the statue’s spot and go hangout elsewhere, they stopped to see Neku still standing there

 

“just give me a minute I’ll catch up” Neku said smiling at them

 

They then left and Neku closed his eyes

 

“I guess…neither of you are coming back” he thought sadly

 

Neku then opened his eyes to see a white feather fall towards him making him catch the feather, cupping it in his hands.

 

“it feels…warm? It’s…it’s warm” Neku said quietly smiling at it

 

He then placed the feather in his right pocket

 

“thank you Mr. H” Neku thought

 

He then was about to walk away when he heard a certain voice

 

“hee hee, and here I thought you wanted me to come over” it said

 

At that moment Neku and his friends all turned around to see Joshua, making the others run to catch up to Neku. Before any of them could ask him why he was there, Joshua smiled a little with his hands in his front pockets.

 

“A certain group of people told me to stay here for a while, and is going to make everyone who will have my job have to spend time here for a while so that way it isn’t handled the way I did. To make them appreciate this city. There's also an imprint set up for my parents, for Mother and Father, it'll be as if I never died, and I'll be with my family again.” Joshua said smugly

 

With them all getting the hint, Beat then grabbed Joshua and gave him a noogie making the girls giggle. Deciding to celebrate their reunion the friends all got together for a group photo.

 

Neku held his Phone horizontally and Shiki pulled Joshua over to he could stand next to Neku, still shocked at how so many people care about him, but then smiled causing Neku to take the photo.

Seeing them all together, Mr. H activated his Angel eyes (simultaneously triggering Second Sight with them being triggered in the RG) and saw a vision of them all being older with their shadows showing who they once were and became his orb form and flew away.

 

Sparkles of light flew to the sky once more as Mr. H left a trace of his energy in the sky ready to watch over Neku as his Guardian Angel.

 

 

 

 

The Future Begins With You


End file.
